ArmInfo.With the development of relations with Iran, the free economic zone in Meghri (on the border with Iran - red) will play a decisive role. This was announced on October 8 at the meeting of the parliamentary Commission on Regional and Eurasian Integration of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia by the chairman of the commission, deputy from the Prosperous Armenia faction Mikael Melkumyan.
According to him, the problems that have arisen around the FEZ "Meghri" require consistent solutions. "Not a single community leader who held an illegal tender, and no question as a whole can interfere with our case, "the deputy noted, adding that in three months the issue will be discussed again at a meeting of the commission. Mikael Melkumyan also informed that in the near future Meghri will be provided with gas. According to him, the commission headed by him held an away meeting in the region. "There we learned that there has been no gas in Meghri since Soviet times. We raised this issue in the National Assembly during a meeting with government representatives. The Armenian Prime Minister recorded this in his own room, and a few days later we were informed that the relevant measurements ", - the deputy noted. On September 11, ArmInfo, citing RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, announced the start of the process of returning illegally privatized lands adjacent to the Meghri Free Economic Zone (FEZ) on the border with Iran. According to the prime minister, the Armenian government and the investigating authority did everything in their power to resolve the issue as soon as possible. The line for the judiciary, he noted. Recall that on March 7, at a government meeting, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced that former senior officials, being insider aware of plans to found Meghri's FEZ in advance, managed to acquire adjacent lands at ridiculous prices. "During my last year's visit, it turned out that there was no state land for the project," Pashinyan said. Already in early August, the General Investigation Department of the General Directorate for Investigation of Particularly Important Cases of the Investigative Committee of the Republic of Armenia completed a preliminary investigation in a criminal case instituted on the fact of alienation of land in the territories adjacent to the Meghri FEZ as a result of fake imaginary auctions with the assistance of a group of persons through forgery by the former head of the Karchevan community of the Syunik region. On the basis of sufficient evidence acquired in the criminal case, 6 persons were charged, including the former head of the Karchevan community (two episodes) for committing official falsification under Article 314 of the RA Criminal Code, an employee of the municipality participating in the fictitious auction, and 4 bidders - for assistance in committing official forgery. As the head of the Armenian Ministry of Economy Tigran Khachatryan previously reported, at this stage, the land area attached to the SEZ does not exceed 2 hectares. In the future, it should reach 10 ha, and then expand to 50 ha. However, negotiations with private landowners did not lead to the desired result. The total cost of constructing a free economic zone in Meghri is estimated at $ 32 million, of which $ 28 million is capital expenditure. The construction of a free economic zone on the border with Iran is one of the priority investment programs of the RA government and provides for the creation of a free economic zone with an area of 10-15 hectares, with the possibility of subsequent expansion to 45-50 hectares. It is assumed that there will operate 100-120 companies, whose revenue for 10 years will amount to $ 52 million. It is planned to export manufactured products to Iran, the EAEU, the Middle East, Turkmenistan and others. Over the past 10 years, the total investments of all companies are planned to be increased to $ 350-400 million. The functioning of the SEZ is already enshrined in law in the EAEU Customs Code. In total, seven such zones will operate in the EAEU under the duty-free system.