On November 1st, the RA Ministry of Nature Protection proposed a legislative amendment aimed at stimulating the electric vehicles market.

The suggested supplement in the Tax Code is meant to include import of EVs in the VAT-exempt transactions and operations list. The vehicle should not be exported within 365 days after importion, which includes EAEU (Eurasian Economic Union) member states. This approach is meant to prevent export to other EEU Member States and avoid commercial arbitrage.

The proposed law is supposed to be in effect from July 1, 2019 to December 31, 2030.

The goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, noise and pollution from vehicular traffic. Until now, certain incentives have been introduced in Armenia to publicize the use of hybrid and electric motor vehicles. The owners of such transport vehicles are exempt from parking fees in the capital city of Yerevan and the fully-electric ones allow for exemption of environmental taxes on greenhouse gas emissions.

However, these incentives have not produced significant results. According to official data, the present  number of electric cars in Armenia does not exceed a few dozens. Meanwhile, the above-mentioned project is more promising. VAT-exemption will encourage purchases of EVs. International experience shows that this privilege is the most effective way to activate the market. Norway is one of the world's largest consumers and has been using this method since 1990 not only for imports but also for buying and leasing transactions. As a result, until 2025, Norway has planned for all new cars sold by 2025 to have zero (electric or hydrogen) or low (plug-in hybrids) emissions.

Starting from November 1, the Armenian Energy Agency has launched the PLUG.am Infrastructure Development Program, also targeting the development of the market of electric vehicles.

Գործակալությունը պարբերաբար տեղեկատվություն կտրամադրի ծրագրի մանրամասների մասին: 

The agency will periodically update project development information on our website and facebook page.