Epress.am News from Armenia
Engineer-entrepreneur and prominent Yerevan-based civic activist Vardges Gaspari is again facing challenges arising from the Armenian customs services’ policies. Gaspari, meanwhile, insists he will never resort to corruption to resolve his problems.
Gaspari’s Val Automation company has imported products from abroad for retail sale; the State Revenue Committee, however, demands that Gaspari “enter an unacceptable deal, fraught with corruption risks.”
“We imported 740kg electronic goods worth US$ 10 000 on December 13, but the custom services have yet to be allowed to undergo custom clearance. A broker at the [Araratyan Regional Customs House] has told me he would ‘take care of everything’ for a certain price. And apparently I should not complain about this for he is a physical entity. I told the brokers I would never pay customs officials any money. They asked whether I would take care of the issues myself, and I replied that yes, I would. None of them wanted to take my case after that. I’ve been looking for information on how to fill in a declaration for 14 days. I file a written appeal, they tell me to go and talk to them in person. This is precisely what corruption is – you ask them a written question, they give you a private phone number and tell you to go to talk to them in person,” Gaspari said in conversation with Epress.am.
On Monday, Gaspari held a protest action outside the Araratyan Custom House with a poster that read “[State Revenue Committee Head Vardan] Harutyunyan, you are a lying bastard.” The poster was subsequently taken away by an employee of the customs house.
The entrepreneur today took his protest to the State Revenue Committee, where he held the same poster and lay by the doors of the building, obstructing the movement of the committee officers.