Registration of business in Armenia to take 3 days from Match 7, 2011

PanARMENIAN.Net - How long does it take to register business in Armenia?The state duty for registration of an LLC totals AMD 12 000 (about $40), the procedure to take 5 days. Before registering an entity, its head should be appointed and legal address provided. It’s also necessary to open a bank account with AMD 5000-8000 (about $30) and register the name of the company, what will cost AMD 5 000 ($15). After that, the company should be registered in the Customs Service (1 day), Social Security Service (1 day) and Statistical Service (1 day), with no fee needed. To get a seal, what is optional, will take AMD 13 000 and 1 day.

After collection of all essential documents, the State Register obliges to register the company or reject registration. In case the documents are invalid or do not meet the requirements, the State Register has to send a written notification within 7 days.

According to Doing Business 2011, Armenia ranks 48th among 183 countries. The annual rating of Heritage research center and The Wall Street Journal ranked Armenia 36th among 179 countries. Georgia ranks 29th, Azerbaijan is 92nd while Russia is 143rd.

Unpredictable tax field in Armenia repels foreign investors

In an attempt to improve the country’s rating, the Armenian government has introduced а one-window system which will enable registration within 3 days. The new legislation will take effect from March 7.

As Executive Director of the Business Support Center Samvel Grigoryan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter, Azerbaijan is attractive for its oil resources, Georgia has tourism facilities and economic freedom, while Armenia's tax field is unpredictable, as it can be changed within several days, unlike developed countries, where alert on possible changes comes years prior to amendments. “The tax legislation works properly in Georgia. Armenia’s is not bad but it is not applied.

Another problem is Armenia is uneven development of areas. Doing business in Yerevan and provinces is completely different. Lack of knowledge, proper business plans, low competitiveness, low-quality raw materials and insufficient responsibility for the production make a trouble.

Nevertheless, according to the Grant Thornton International Business Report (IBR), Armenian businessmen have shown an increase in the level of their optimism for the year 2011, showing a significant positive swing equal to +48% against the last year’s +32%.