ARMENIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Aram Orbelyan, Narine Beglaryan, Artur Hovhannisyan, Lilit Karapetyan, Sarkis Knyazyan and Shushanik Stepanyan, Concern Dialog
ment to Article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia, which will enter into force on 8 June 2026, criminal liability for tax evasion arises if the amount of unpaid taxes is more than AMD30 million (approximately USD81,000). The envisaged punishment for this crime is a fine or even impris - onment for up to eight years. The Criminal Code also establishes criminal liability for legal entities. The criminal liability of a natural person does not preclude the criminal liability of a legal entity. The applicable coercive measures are a fine, temporary suspension of the right to engage in a certain type of activity, compulsory liquidation, and a ban on carrying out activities in the territory of the Repub - lic of Armenia (for non-resident legal entities only). 5.8 Tariffs In the Republic of Armenia, a state fee of AMD800,000 is set for obtaining a licence for each importation of up to 100 tonnes of cement. This measure is aimed at creating fair competition between cement importers from the Islamic Republic of Iran and cement produc - ers in Armenia. Armenia, like many countries around the world, encourages the import of electric vehicles. There - fore, importers of such vehicles are exempt from the obligation to pay 20% VAT. Under the recent amend - ments, the VAT exemption will continue to apply in 2026, but from 1 February 2026 to 31 December 2026 it will be limited to electric vehicles classified under the relevant EAEU CN FEA codes and manufactured after 31 December 2023.
• acquisition and merger of business entities regis - tered in the RA; • acquisition of assets of an economic entity reg - istered in the RA by another economic entity if the value of those assets solely or together with the assets already acquired from that economic entity during the last three years equals or exceeds 20% of the value of the total assets of the selling economic entity at the moment of submitting the declaration of concentration; • acquisition of shares of an economic entity regis - tered in the RA by another economic entity if the amount of those shares solely or together with the shares already owned by that economic entity equals or exceeds 20% of the total shares of the first economic entity; • acquisition of the right to use an object of intellec - tual property, including the means of individualisa - tion, as a result of which the economic entity can gain influence on the competitive situation in any product market in the RA; • any transaction, action, reorganisation or behaviour of economic entities through which an economic entity can directly or indirectly influence the deci - sion-making or competitiveness of another eco - nomic entity, or can directly or indirectly influence the decision-making or competitiveness of another person, or can influence the competitive situation in any product market in the RA; and • establishing a legal entity in the RA by more than one economic entity, which shall act independent - ly/separately. The law also provides for cases where a transaction is not considered a concentration, regardless of wheth - er the established thresholds are exceeded. These include: • reorganisations, actions or transactions of eco - nomic entities carried out between economic enti - ties forming a group of persons as defined above, namely: (a) an economic entity and a natural or legal person, where such natural or legal person, on the basis of participation and/or a contract, has the right, in accordance with the law, to directly or indirectly dispose of (including through sale and purchase agreements, joint activity agree -
6. Competition Law 6.1 Merger Control Notification Concentrations
Mergers and acquisitions are subject to notification to the Competition and Consumer Interests Protec - tion Commission (the Commission) if they are notifi - able concentrations under the Law on the Protection of Economic Competition and Consumer Interests. According to the law, the following actions are con - sidered concentrations:
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