On May 31, the National Assembly of Armenia discussed the implementation of the 2023 state budget. Tadevos Avetisyan, an MP from the opposition "Armenia" faction, raised a question to the Chairman of the State Revenue Committee (SRC), Rustam Badasyan, regarding the illegal import of mobile phones, particularly iPhones. According to Avetisyan, 80-90% of phones are imported into Armenia illegally.
Badasyan disagreed with this assessment, noting that the share of illegal imports cannot be that high. He reported that the SRC has recorded cases of tax evasion in the phone market amounting to approximately 10 billion drams, and two individuals have been arrested. Badasyan emphasized that this indicates significant corruption risks in the sector.
Babken Tunyan, Deputy Chairman of the Standing Committee on Economic Affairs, noted that the issue concerns not only taxes but also phone safety. Tunyan mentioned the development of a system that will help address this problem.
Arsen Torosyan, an MP from the ruling "Civil Contract" faction, acknowledged the presence of a shadow economy in the mobile phone sector. Torosyan added that increased mobility of people leads to the introduction of goods from other markets without paying taxes in Armenia.
