100 STEPS AIMED AT DECENTRALIZATION OF ARMENIAN ECONOMY: FORMER PRIME MINISTER
ARKA
March 19, 2010
YEREVAN, March 19, /ARKA/. Former prime minister Hrant Bagratian told
a news conference today that the economic manifesto of the opposition
Armenian National Congress, called ‘100 Steps’ has been developed to
decentralize Armenian economy.
The 15-page program published late last month was developed by a team
of economists led by Hrant Bagratian. It lists 100 policy measures
which the Armenian National Congress said would end the monopolization
of Armenian economy, improve the country’s business environment and
ensure a more fair distribution of wealth among its citizens.
According to Hrant Bagratian, ‘100 Steps’ differs radically from the
government’s anti-crisis program.
"Our plan of actions is aimed at preventing a dozen of oligarchs from
receiving huge profits from monopolized imports,’ he said, adding
that 55% of Armenia’s GDP is owned by 10 families. For comparison,
he said, in the United States only 1.9% of economy is controlled by
large businesses, in Russia the figure is 3.7%. "This makes any talk
about market economy in Armenia meaningless,’ he said.
Bagratian said the Armenian National Congress wants to shift the main
tax burden from small and medium-sized enterprises to a handful of
government-linked oligarchs through the introduction of a progressive
income tax scale as well as sharp increases in other taxes paid by
the wealthiest Armenians.
Head of World Bank Yerevan Office, Aristomene Varoudakis, praised
lately the content of the program , saying it has a lot of good
proposals. He also suggested starting open debates on the program,
promising World Bank ‘s support.