Since 2021, the RA Government has adopted a policy of extending value chains in the field of scrap metal. After that, the export of scrap metal was banned, during that period a number of metallurgical companies were opened and are being opened. As a result, that field is growing quite rapidly. The RA Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan, presenting the proposed addenda and amendments to the law on State Duty at the NA sitting, noted that there are two such factories in Charentsavan, there is also a factory in Karakert, and the construction of such a factory is also underway in Yeraskh.
The draft will establish a state duty on the export of semi-finished products obtained from scrap metal. According to the Minister’s assessment, the export of semi-finished products will be difficult, and an appropriate state duty will be paid for the export. “The goal is to encourage the implementation of longer value chains in Armenia, that is, to produce a final product. The Government has a number of supporting programmes in this direction,” Vahan Kerobyan underlined.
The deputy Edgar Hakobyan tried to understand how the 35% support of the Government is planned in case of investment. Vahan Kerobyan clarified that the programme applies to medium and large businesses, in case of investments starting from one billion AMD. The deputy Sisak Gabrielyan highlighted the awareness of such programmes on social networks as well. According to the deputy, 35% is a large investment by the state in business. Valuing public awareness, Vahan Kerobyan noted that Public Relations and Information Center SNCO has an appropriate budget for the awareness of programmes implemented by the Government. The deputy Armen Khachatryan spoke in his turn about differentiating regulations regarding different metals, because not all metals go through the same regulations or processing stages. In response, the Minister informed that a number of factories have expanded their productions and with this arrangement another 100 million dollars will be invested, as a result of which 550-750 highly productive jobs will be created.
In the related report, the member of the NA Standing Committee on Economic Affairs Hayk Tsirunyan presented the endorsement of the Committee.
The purpose of the regulation is to extend the rehabilitation cycle - an important change is designed: The Deputy Chair of the NA Standing Committee on Economic Affairs Babken Tunyan expressed a similar opinion. “We want to go in such a way that Armenia exports not raw materials, scrap or semi-finished products, but, if possible, finished products,” Babken Tunyan said. Local companies, in most cases, have a raw material problem and recycle the scrap. The Deputy Chair of the Committee presented the policy implemented in the field and mentioned that there are still many issues to be debated. He called on his colleagues to vote for the initiative in the first reading.
The deputy Khachatur Sukiasyan inquired in his turn about the collection of tens of thousands of scrap cars and their delivery.
In his final speech, the RA Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan assured that now there is significant competition in the field of ferrous metal processing. According to him, the factories being created are such that they can not only process scrap metal, but also carry out processing from primary raw materials.