Monday, November 30 2015 05:48

 One-third of the enterprises registered in the SME segment in Armenia do not function, sociologist Aharon Adibekyan told reporters.      

He said over 10,000 new enterprises were registered in 2015. At the moment the number of SMEs registered in Armenia is over 68,000, but one-third of them do not function.

The small and medium-sized business in economy is a leading sector that determines the economic growth rates, the sociologist said. In all developed countries the share of small business in the GNP is 60-70% and, as a rule, such enterprises secure 75-80% of new jobs. Adibekyan pointed out that due to the lack of an accurate mechanism of state measures supporting the small business, as well as low economic competence and restricted access to the loan and insurance resources, this year the number of incumbent SME entities has dropped. "The high tax rates, growing rental charges for premises and equipment, high migration and the concentration of all possible corruption risks related to tax administration have a negative effect on development of small and medium-sized businesses," Adibekyan said, noting that this unfavorable process will continue next year because no real steps are envisaged. 

To note, according to the Small and Medium Entrepreneurship Development National Center of Armenia (SME DNC), in the first three quarters of 2015 the Armenian small and medium-sized enterprises received loan guarantees worth a total of over 600 mln AMD. During that period, 5.3 thsd start-up and incumbent SMEs applied for the Center's support. By the latest data, there are nearly 70,000 SMEs in Armenia, including 58,000 micro and small enterprises and 10,000 medium-sized ones. The share of SMEs in the Armenian GDP is 43%, whereas the sector ensures only 5-6% of the tax revenues. According to the USAID surveys, about 50% of the incumbent micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in Armenia have no access to financial resources, while nearly 69% of SME representatives are discontent with the access to financial resources.