The Surete du Quebec in conjunction with Revenue Quebec's investigative division, have been working on investigation since 2008 to uncover tax evasion schemes in construction industry in province. They already receives warrants for 14 people and expects to raid a dozen homes and businesses in Montreal and Laval. Arrest warrants were issued for charges of tax evasion or by leading a tax evasion scheme. All suspects are working in the construction industry. They used fake invoices, paid employees in cash without deduction of local taxes. Unlike Canada, where shadow construction and repairs as the white Crow, in Armenia shadow is almost all market of individual housing construction and repairs, and works done without any contracts or papers, or complex tax avoidance schemes. It seems more logical and obvious, when works done by craftsman or craftsmen teams . Note also that in Armenia, for legal contracts with licensed construction company, the labor cost of the work increases by 50% ( VAT and all other taxes and fees)! Here is a huge tax differences in shadow and legal markets, what ultimately lead thriving shadow and legal business to die out. There is the unequal competition with deep tax gorges to align and Government should launch a long and hard program to equal tax burden for all parties involved and provide live opportunities for small and middle construction companies legal development. Maybe after creating such "equal working conditions", we can act like Canada...

As reported by Turkish Huberturk, renovation works of the Armenian St. Kirakos church are conducted in Diarbakyr. The project is estimated $ 2.5 million and financed by the "St. Kirakos" foundation. The foundation, chaired by Tekin Papuchyan, is mainly financed by Diarbakyr-origin Armenians. Works are intended to be completed in 2011. The liturgy is intended to be conducted twice a year and it is also planned to install cross on the church. It is sad to note that currently only 8-10 Armenian families live in the city, although 50 years ago there were around 1000 Armenians living in Diarbakyr. According to the records of city government, the church was built in XV century. It is interesting that after the destruction of the old bell tower struck by lightning in 1913, the architect-builder David Hzarchyan built a new tower in elevated Gothic style that was much higher and more beautiful than the old one. However, soon in notorious 1915 the new tower was destroyed by Turkish artillery. Currently Diarbakyr, built on the site of the one of former capitals of Great Armenia-Tigranakert, unofficially considered the capital of Turkish Kurdistan...

Japanese construction corporation Obayashi Corp., is planning to complete the construction of the world's tallest tower - Tokyo Sky Tree in spring 2012. A tower with a height of 634m previously was planned to be finished at the end of 2011. By turnover 2009, Obayashi Corp. is the world's 22 biggest construction company. The long uppermost section of tower is the "antenna tower" for digital-terrestrial broadcasts. Below of "antenna tower" it will be located the world's highest observatory deck with height of 450m. The developer of the tower is Tobu Tower Sky Tree Co., Ltd., architecture-Nikken Sekkei Ltd. Tokyo Sky Tree will equipped by 6 Toshiba elevators, four out of which are 40person elevators with a maximum speed of 600m/min, which are the fastest large capacity elevators in Japan. The new tower's foundation developed by Obayashi will be subjected to strong uplift and compressive forces from winds, earthquakes, and other factors. Note that record for the tallest building in the world still belongs to Burj Khalifa in Dubai with height 828m!

This section looks at the procedural requirements for building a standardized warehouse in Armenia. The country data appearing on this page was collected as part of the Doing Business project, which measures and compares regulations relevant to the life cycle of a small- to medium-sized domestic business in 183 economies. The table below provides a summary of the procedures (as well as the associated completion time and cost) required for the construction of a warehouse in the periurban area of the economy's largest city. The table is followed by additional country-specific requirement details. Building a warehouse Data as of: January 2009 Estimated Warehouse Value: USD 520,000 City: Yerevan Requirements Summary: Apply and obtain architectural - constructional assignment Request and obtain technical conditions approval from water authority* Request and obtain architectural plan approval from telecommunications provider* Request and obtain architectural plan approval from electricity provider* Request and obtain ecological expertise approval Hire a licensed expert/ company to conduct the expertise approval of architectural drawings* Request and obtain building permit from Yerevan Municipality Receive inspection by Municipal Construction Inspection Receive inspection by Municipal Construction Inspection Receive Inspection by State Inspection of Urban Development of Ministry of Urban Development Receive Inspection by State Inspection of Urban Development of Ministry of Urban Development Request and connect to electricity services Request water and sewage services* Receive water and sewage inspection and connect* Request and connect to telephone* Request final municipal inspection to obtain occupancy permit Receive final inspection from the municipality Obtain occupancy permit from Municipality Register the building with the Cadastre Receive on-site inspection for building registration* * Takes place simultaneously with another procedure. Requirement Details Procedure 1. Apply and obtain architectural- constructional assignment Time to complete: 38 days Cost to complete: no charge Name of Agency: Yerevan Municipality (Architectural and Urban Development Department) Comment: The company submits an application form to the Architectural and Urban Development Department of the Yerevan Municipality with the following information: the purpose of usage, building type and address, and the name(s) and license number (s) of the design firm(s). As part of this process, the owner receives technical conditions from appropriate authorities for drawing, building, and using the building's engineering substructures. The fee and time line are determined by the agreement with the company. For BuildCo to obtain a building permit, the municipality awards an architectural-constructional engineering assignment contract to a licensed building design firm, upon receiving the application and the drawings. The design firm prepares the drawing(s) with information on technical, urban, and other necessary conditions. The architectural drawing undergoes a review performed by a specialized institution. The drawings are then approved by the Yerevan municipality, citing the duration of the construction. Until May 2008, a architectural construction assignment and building permit would not be issued without contributing AMD 3-5 million to a charitable "Yerevan Fund" designated by the municipal authority. There was no specific law or norm about this fund. However, Mayor of Erevan abolished this requirement through a municipal decision. This came as result of order by Prime Minister of Republic of Armenia on January 15, 2008 (Cabinet Meeting Protocol #2-2). Companies are no longer required to pay this fee. To further enforce the implementation of the decision , Mayor's Office launched a public campaign among construction sector, following allegations of recurring use of this contribution. According to legislation the official time limit to issue the APZ is 20 days. However, because the technical conditions are obtained individually the APZ is issued subsequent to having all technical conditions from utilities. Following the issuance of APZ, Build CO start developing all aspects of construction documents. It is assumed that a geologist would be part of BuildCo staff. It is also assumed that the technical supervision expert, normally hired by developers-investors to oversee the quality of works done by builders, in case of BuildCo would be part of its core staff, and do not need to be hired separately. Both companies and individual technical supervision experts can be licensed according to Government Resolution N 26 (12 December 2008) that becomes effective 21 June 2009. Procedure 2. Request and obtain technical conditions approval from water authority Time to complete: 20 days Cost to complete: no charge Name of Agency: Yerevan Water and Sewage Company (YWSC) Comment: According regulation #1473 (2002), applicants must seek individual technical condition approvals from each authority. All technical conditions must be free of charge. Response time is about a month. Before starting earthwork, BuildCo must apply to utility providers, citing the planned route(s) of underground communications. Upon starting work, BuildCo must request the presence of utility company representatives during connecting communications of the building. Procedure 3. Request and obtain architectural plan approval from telecommunications provider Time to complete: 7 days Cost to complete: no charge Name of Agency: ArmenTel Procedure 4. Request and obtain architectural plan approval from electricity provider Time to complete: 17 days Cost to complete: no charge Name of Agency: ArmElNet Comment: After obtaining conditions from the utilities, BuildCo assigns an architect or a licensed building design firm to prepare the architectural drawings. During the whole construction process, the drawing company must conduct copyright control to ensure compliance of construction with the architectural-engineering drawings, according to the agreement concluded between the owner and the drawing company. Procedure 5. Request and obtain ecological expertise approval Time to complete: 30 days Cost to complete: AMD 25,000 Name of Agency: Ecological Expertise of Ministry of Ecology Comment: If projects are larger than 1000 sq. m.. they will be subject to simple expertise of project documents. This requirement is stipulated in paragraph 2 of Article 4 of the Law "On Expert Examination of Environmental Impact", as of 20 November 1995, and implemented by Article 7 of the Government Resolution #193, as of March 30, 1999. According to regulation the ecological expertise takes 120 days. This expertise is obtained before submitting documents to expertise of architectural drawings. Procedure 6. Hire a licensed expert/ company to conduct the expertise approval of architectural drawings Time to complete: 1 day Cost to complete: AMD 25,000 Name of Agency: Expertise Company Comment: The architectural drawings undergo a review performed by a licensed expertise institution. A number of licensed private organizations exist in Armenia with expertise in architectural drawing. In Armenia, architectural drawing is subject to both engineering and ecological expertise review. The results of expertise are then submitted to Municipality along with other documents for building permit. Procedure 7. Request and obtain building permit from Yerevan Municipality Time to complete: 22 days Cost to complete: AMD 963,340 Name of Agency: Municipality Comment: The company must resubmit the approved architectural drawings to the municipality. According to Decision #91 (2002) the permit must be issued in 7 days. Since 2005, the construction permit and the construction document approvals are granted simultaneously. In Yerevan, the mayor grants the construction permit. The local construction permit fee is up to AMD 70,000. In some regions and districts, as determined by the central authorities, the fee ranges from AMD 21,000 to AMD 350,000. According to Decision #91 (2002), Art. 27 after obtaining the building permit, BuildCo will need to notify State Inspection of Urban Development of Ministry of Urban Development. BuildCo writes a letter 3 days prior to construction works, and does not await for approval. According to Resolution of Yerevan Mayor's Office # 245 as of 23 February 2006, additional fees apply to industrial rubbish produced by BuildCo. It consists of two components: infrastructure use fee and earth excavation and rubbish fee. The fee would be assessed by a municipal company- Technical Decisions Implementation Agency for Development of Yerevan (created in second half of 2007 by Yerevan Mayor's Office. The fee for industrial earth excavation and rubbish AMD 300 for each truck, and infrastructure use fee AMD 960 sq. m.. Total cost is: 1) AMD 300 x 10 trucks= AMD 3000 + 2) AMD 960 x 1300.6 = AMD 1,248,576 = AMD 1,251,576 Procedure 8. Receive inspection by Municipal Construction Inspection Time to complete: 1 day Cost to complete: no charge Name of Agency: Municipal Construction Inspection Comment: The construction site may be visited during entire duration of project at least twice, provided all works are done properly. There is no need to stop works. Inspections occur on random basis. According to Law on Inspection all inspections must take place only once a year. However, so called 'operational inspections' are widespread. Procedure 9. Receive inspection by Municipal Construction Inspection Time to complete: 1 day Cost to complete: no charge Name of Agency: Municipal Construction Inspection/District Authorities Comment: The construction site may be visited during entire duration of project at least twice, provided all works are done properly. There is no need to stop works. Inspections occur on random basis. According to Law on Inspection all inspections must take place only once a year. However, so called 'operational inspections' are widespread. Procedure 10. Receive Inspection by State Inspection of Urban Development of Ministry of Urban Development Time to complete: 1 day Cost to complete: no charge Name of Agency: State Inspection of Urban Development of Ministry of Urban Development Comment: The construction site may be visited during entire duration of project at least twice, even if works are conducted properly. There is no need to stop works. Inspections occur on random basis. According to Law on Inspection all inspections must take place only once a year. However, so called 'operational inspections' are widespread. Procedure 11. Receive Inspection by State Inspection of Urban Development of Ministry of Urban Development Time to complete: 1 day Cost to complete: no charge Name of Agency: State Inspection of Urban Development of Ministry of Urban Development Comment: The construction site may be visited during entire duration of project at least twice, even if works are conducted properly. There is no need to stop works. Inspections occur on random basis. According to Law on Inspection all inspections must take place only once a year. However, so called 'operational inspections' are widespread. Procedure 12. Request and connect to electricity services Time to complete: 10 days Cost to complete: AMD 2,600 Name of Agency: ArmElNet Comment: An additional facilitation fee of AMD 200-300 is required to expedite the process. Procedure 13. Request water and sewage services Time to complete: 9 days Cost to complete: AMD 2,600 Name of Agency: Yerevan Water and Sewage Company (YWSC) Comment: An additional facilitation fee of AMD 200-300 is required to expedite the process. Procedure 14. Receive water and sewage inspection and connect Time to complete: 1 day Cost to complete: no charge Name of Agency: Yerevan Water and Sewage Company (YWSC) Procedure 15. Request and connect to telephone Time to complete: 8 days Cost to complete: AMD 24,000 Name of Agency: ArmenTel Comment: An additional facilitation fee of AMD 200-300 is required to expedite the process. Procedure 16. Request final municipal inspection to obtain occupancy permit Time to complete: 1 day Cost to complete: no charge Name of Agency: Municipality/State Inspection of Urban Development of Ministry of Urban Development Comment: The completion of construction certificate, obtained upon completion through joint meeting of investor and builder, is required to file for the final inspection process. This is required to obtain the occupancy permit from the municipality. The application is made to receive final inspection by municipality. State Inspection of Urban Development under the Ministry of Urban Development, must be notified as well. Procedure 17. Receive final inspection from the municipality Time to complete: 1 day Cost to complete: AMD 150,000 Name of Agency: Municipality/State Inspection of Urban Development of Ministry of Urban Development Comment: By ministerial decree, the municipality must undertake the final inspection within 15 days of receiving the application. After the inspection, the application is forwarded to the state expert office for final approval. This takes another 10-15 business days. Inspection by State Inspection of Urban Development of Ministry of Urban Development takes place separately. After all signatures are signed the occupancy permit is issued by the Mayor's Office. Procedure 18. Obtain occupancy permit from Municipality Time to complete: 28 days Cost to complete: no charge Name of Agency: Municipality Comment: After all signatures are signed the occupancy permit is issued by the Mayor's Office. Procedure 19. Register the building with the Cadastre Time to complete: 2 days Cost to complete: AMD 99,397 Name of Agency: Local Cadastre Office Comment: The company must register the building with the cadastre by submitting the land title, the allocation permit, the building permit, and the construction plans. The next step is an on-site inspection, required for metering the building. As of second half of 2009 the State Cadastre introduced new fast track options whereby transactions can be done in 2, 4 and 7 days. Fee schedule for registration: - Registration: AMD 10,000 (Registration fee). - Building metering: AMD 20 x 929+ AMD 20 x 1300.6= AMD 86,397 (fast track - 2 days) - Building sketch: AMD 1,000 (for each page- 2 pages)= AMD 2,000. - Stamp duty: AMD 1,000. Total: AMD 99 397 Documents to be submitted: Construction permits; Architectural construction assignment; Occupancy permit. Procedure 20. Receive on-site inspection for building registration Time to complete: 1 day Cost to complete: no charge Name of Agency: Local Cadastre Office Comment: Inspection of site is done for all projects, both first time and re-sale of property. The mapping team visits the site and thereafter draws all relevant measurements in the records. BuildCo representative must be present at the moment of inspection.

We think these are just two main reasons which are enough to completely exclude the VAT from this market. 1. With the current lamentable condition of housing in Armenia (especially in Yerevan), where about 80% of the buildings are in a state of increased risk of destruction from possible strong earthquake, probability of which is quite high for today. Of course, there is a need to replace old, not earthquake-proof buildings to new, earthquake-resistant ones, at a maximum possible low price. Besides other measures, the step to reduce indirect taxes (VAT) could quite significantly shrink the cost of housing construction, and thereby reduce the bar for possible home acquisition. 2. The second major problem relates to the legal development of small and medium companies in construction field. The problem is, that construction companies (especially licensed, as by Armenian VAT law while obtaining construction license companies automatically become VAT payers) can not conclude legal and complete contracts for construction and renovation works for private housing, because legal contracts increase the construction cost almost by 50% (including VAT, social payments, income taxes an so on) compared with the costs of "shadow work force" illegally and freely operates in this market without paying any taxes. The current reality, of course, puts licensed companies in one field of unequal competition with the shadow construction market, and does not allow creating normal conditions for the legal development and prosperity of companies, as well as implementing qualified construction. The result is; today the huge part of this market is in shadow economy, companies can not legally develop, the quality of work done is rather poor, while State Budget doesn't get lots of money. And who benefits? Today, our goal is to seek our readers' opinions, either through a simple voting or your comments. Given the fact that shadow economy in housing construction and renovation different extent exists in many countries, even in well developed ones, it is also interesting to find out opinions and to receive comments from all over the world to know the situation regarding to the issue.