Yerevan/Mediamax/. First session of the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Council in Armenia took place in Yerevan today. It was chaired by the Chairman of the Council, Prime Minister Tigran Sargsian.

Mediamax reports that Executive Director of Foundation for Small and Medium Businesses public organization Narine Mailyan informed that the following suggestions were made by SME representatives at the session:

-    Facilitation of the procedure of enterprise liquidation;
-    Facilitation of the procedure of receiving social security number during registration of business;
-    Ruling out notary and other certifications while registering rent;
-    Reduction of the price for purchasing electronic signatures (at present the price for an electronic signature makes AMD 15 thousand or USD40);
-    Simplification of legislation, related to SME;
-    Quarterly provision of data on use of control-cash machines (currently these data are presented to tax bodies on monthly basis);
-    Provision of the opportunity to delay VAT payment during import of equipment without establishment of the minimum volume of the equipment cost (currently this opportunity is provided to importers of equipment, who make investments at the sum of AD 300mln or more);
-    Ruling out sequestration of the entire property of an enterprise during court proceedings (it is suggested to apply sequestration only on assets, which meet the cost of the disputed sum);
-    Combining the forms for settlement of income tax and social payments, as well as ruling out cases when legislative changes, related to business, come into effect immediately (it is suggested that the laws come into effect after three months’ term for the entrepreneurs to be able to adapt to new conditions).

Deputy Minister of Economy of Armenia Karine Minasyan stated that some of the mentioned issues at present are in the process of solution already, and as to other issues the Prime Minister has ordered to find solutions in shortest timeframes.