STATE THREATENS TO ABOLISH "AIR TAX" IN ARMENIA

Yerevan, February 12. ArmInfo. The so-called "air tax" or the state
duty of 10,000 drams, collected from each passenger leaving Armenia,
will be abolished, the Head of the Chief Department of Civil Aviation,
Artiom Movsisyan, told ArmInfo.

According to him, the collection of the state due just before the
flight in airports has proved its inefficiency. Moreover, some of
the "Zvartnots" airport’s employees were arraigned in receiving tens
thousands of US dollars as a result of fraudulent deals with checks
for the "air tax". The incident, Movsisyan noted, has induced the RA
President’s staff and the Finance Ministry to revise the expediency
of this kind of state due, a part of which did not reach the Armenian
state budget. "It is yet unknown, what will be the conclusions of
the country’s authorities: if the decision on abolishment of this
duty ill be final or it will be automatically added to the air
ticket’s cost. However, it will no more be called an "air tax" ",
A. Movsisyan said.