Gazprom Armenia under criminal investigation for major tax evasion involving ‘billions’

The State Revenue Committee (SRC) of Armenia says it has revealed fraud at Gazprom Armenia.

SRC said it has inspected Gazprom Armenia as part of ongoing anti-fraud operations of the agency and discovered a number of violations and major tax evasion cases.

SRC said that in 2016 and 2017 Gazprom Armenia has reported fake data in its VAT and profit tax calculations to taxation authorities which resulted in ‘several billions drams less calculated tax obligations’.

The State Revenue Committee said that the research data on the volumes of supplied natural gas to filling stations (natural gas stations) also prove fraud. SRC said that Gazprom Armenia’s volume of loss in the distribution network reduced on an average of more than 3 times in June-July 2018 compared to January-May of the same year. At the same time, according to the SRC, the volumes of Gazprom Armenia’s supplies to the filling stations in June-September 2018 has increased nearly 37% as compared to the first five months of the year.

The SRC said it has launched a criminal investigation on major tax evasion based on the findings.