On April 19, National Erasmus+ Office in Armenia (NEO) organised a round table discussion on tax and customs privileges and the application of the Law on Procurement in Armenian universities implementing EU-funded projects. The event was held at Yerevan V. Brusov State University of Languages and Social Sciences (YSULS) and attended by the representatives of 13 state, private and transnational higher educational institutions implementing EU funded Erasmus+ projects, the RA Ministry of Economy and the RA Ministry of Finance, Delegation of the EU to Armenia, as well as the “National Center for Public Policy Research” NGO. The purpose of the discussion was to get clarifications from national and EU bodies on the issues of taxation and public procurement that arise during implementation of EU funded Erasmus+ projects.

NEO coordinator Lana Karlova reminded the participants that according to Article 3 of the EU-Armenia  Framework Agreement ratified in 2006, the procurement of  equipment and other services within EU-funded Erasmus+ Capacity Building in Higher Education (CBHE) projects is exempted from  20% VAT. Davit Avagyan, the Project Manager of Cooperation Section of the EU Delegation in Armenia, and Narine Arzumanyan, the Assistant of the same Section, explained how VAT exemption procedure is coordinated through the Delegation, meanwhile Magda Sargsyan, the Leading Specialist at the Licensing Agency of the RA Ministry of Economy, responded to the questions concerning the state taxation process.

The representatives of financial and procurement units of Armenian HEIs involved in Erasmus+ CBHE projects also voiced their concerns over financial losses and other unnecessary limitations imposed by mandatory implementation of the Law on Procurement. Heghine Jaghinyan, the Leading Specialist of  Department of Procurement Policy at the RA Ministry of Finance, offered University colleagues to submit in writing their amendment proposals to the Ministry’s Department of Procurement Policy.

Hasmik Ghazaryan, the Head of the Financial Department at YSULS, concluded the discussion by presenting the University’s successful solutions in the field of taxation and procurement.