YEREVAN: Former PM and opposition deputy Hrant Bagratyan said Armenia will lose out three-fold on customs duties by joining the Customs Union.
“If Armenia has decided to join the Customs Union, then it will have to apply import duties three times higher than in Europe,” Bagratyan said during the debates on the 2014 draft budget.
Thus, according to the World Bank, the average import duty for commodities in Russia in 2011 amounted to 6.97 per cent in the EU only 1.24 per cent. In Armenia, it was 3.48 per cent in 2008 (the latest available data). Thus, the tariffs on imported goods in Armenia and therefore the prices will rise more than if Armenia joined a free trade area with the EU (this does not apply to goods imported from Customs Union member states).
“We do not see this in the draft budget. So, maybe it would be appropriate to calculate the budget taking into account accession to the Customs Union,” Bagratyan concluded.
