YEREVAN, JANUARY 26, NOYAN TAPAN. Armenian prime minister Tigran Sargsyan accompanied by by the ministers of economy, finace, labor and social issues, the chairman of the RA State Revenue Committee and a number of other state officials on January 24 visited the gold market owned by "Vagharsh & Sons" Ltd on Yerevan's Khorenatsi Street to become acquained with the market employees' working conditions and difficulties which these people had repeatedly expressed during their protests organized in front of the government building. During talks held with numerous employees of the market, it became clear that even elementary conditions are not ensured for employees who have a lot of problems related to hygiene and sanitary, health safety and fire protection which is a gross violation of the law. There is also a problem of cash registers: they are absent in many trade stalls. Employees also complained about the large amount of monthly payment for their work in the market. The minimum montly paymnent for a stall makes 70 thousand drams, including 18 thousand drams - allgedly a state tax, 5 thousand drams to the Pension Fund, the rest are payments to the market organizers for the lease of a stall, accounting and other services. In repsonse to market employees' questions, it was explained that the latest legislative amendments related to fairs are aimed at reducing the tax burden of employees and shifting it to the organizers of markets and fairs. The organizer of a market is obliged to purchase cash registers and install them at a stall at his own expense, as well as to ensure working conditions envisaged by law. According to the RA Government Information and PR Department, the prime minister conducted a consultation to sum up the results of the indicated visit and propose solutions to these problems. The chairman of the State Revenue Committee was instructed to prepare an analysis of the financial results of the activities of the gold market owned by "Vagharsh & Sons" Ltd, its rents and tax liabilities and to present this information to the prime minister as soon as possible. The Labor Inspection of the RA Ministry of Labor and Social Issues was instructed to conduct checks in the gold market to reveal violaltions of working conditions and take respective measures. The Ministry of Emergency Situations will examine the state of meeting technical and fire prevention demands and take the necessary measures. As a result of all this, as the prime minister underlined, favorable conditions should be created for all employees of markets and fairs in terms of improving their financial-economic and working conditions.

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