Gazprom Armenia charged with tax evasion

Armenia’s State Revenue Committee has conducted an investigation into Gazprom-Armenia, and have found major financial irregularities. A subsequent criminal case has been filed.

What are they accused of?

According to the State Revenue Committee, Gazprom-Armenia has been writing off large amounts in an effort to avoid paying taxes. For example, in 2016 and 2017 Gazprom-Armenia declared misleading income tax and value-added tax (VAT) information, resulting in tax deductions of several billion drams.

The State Revenue Committee is continuing its investigation in order to determine the exact amount of damage caused to the state.

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Corruption

Acting Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan said that there could be corruption in the supply of gas from Russia to Armenia.

“Citizens of Armenia do not feel that they are getting cheap gas from Russia. This could be due to inefficient management or corruption. I think that if we conduct serious investigations into the matter, the Russian authorities will understand.”

The government of Armenia has been discussing the issue of lowering gas prices for several months.

Russia’s “blue fuel” costs $ 150 per thousand cubic metres. However, the fee for the end user, who uses no more than 10 thousand cubic metres, is almost twice as much at $ 290.

Who is Gazprom Armenia?

Gazprom-Armenia is a full subsidiary of the Russian energy holding Gazprom. It provides for the supply and sale of natural gas in Armenia.

Gazprom-Armenia is one of the largest taxpayers in Armenia. The company has already paid 30.3 billion drams (almost $ 62.5 million) to the state treasury for the first nine months of this year.