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HOVIK BAGHDASARYAN: THIS SYRIAN-ARMENIAN BUSINESSMAN PAYS TAXES RATHER THAN BRIBES
Marine Madatyan
14:57, April 1, 2013
Friends of Syrian-Armenian Hovik Baghdasaryan told him that even if
he made a successful go of it in Armenia "he should not report his
profits to the tax authorities and cry poverty", for that's the way
things are done.
Hovik laughed me if the advice was true and whether he should heed
it or not.
When I visited Hovik after 8pm, the store was still opened for
business. Other stores in the area had already closed for the day.
He opened his shoe store five months ago.
Hovik says that "people in Armenia don't like to work and prefer to
sit and make money."
"But if that same Armenian goes to France, he or she works harder
and does any type of job," notes Hovik.
In August of 2012, Hovik and his family fled Syria when the Islamists
started their assault on Aleppo. Their house was subject to shelling
as well.
They came to Armenia with the intention of only staying a month or
so. Since the situation in Syria hasn't improved, they have stayed on.
Hovik's father started a shoe business in Aleppo. The family owned
a production plant and stores. Now, the plant is closed and only one
of the stores remains open.
[Koshik_2.jpg]
Hovik says their factory was the only one in Aleppo making orthopedic
shoes for adults and kids.
The one store still operating in Aleppo is only open 3-4 hours a day.
"I only have Armenians working in the store. I dismissed all the
Arabs," says Hovik.
He has transferred much of his Aleppo inventory to the new store in
Yerevan under the brand name "Hovik".
The young businessman owns a house in France and says that he could
have moved there but that he prefers to live in Armenia.
"Armenia is more like Syria. It's more relaxed. I wouldn't want my
children growing up in France anyway," he says.
Hovik has purchased an apartment in downtown Yerevan where he and
his wife live with their two daughters and his parents.
[Antuanet.jpg]
His Yerevan store is called Vana, in remembrance of Van, the hometown
of one of his grandmothers.
One of his daughters attends kindergarten and the other goes to
theKilikia School specially set-up for Syrian-Armenian school age
pupils.
Hovik's mother Antoinette helps out in the store as well.
He says that expenses in Armenia are quite high when compared to
Aleppo.
"There a family of four could get by on $150 per month. In Yerevan,
that money only covers a week."
[koshik.jpg]
Hovik says that clerks in other Yerevan stores deal brusquely with
customers; a no-no in the retail business.
"Even if a customer returns a pair of shoes purchased from us, we'll
return their money," he says.
He claims that it's quite easy operating a business in Armenia;
you just have to provide sales receipts for everything you sell.
Hovik confesses that it's not in his nature to bribe another Armenian
and he's not about to start doing so in Armenia.
http://hetq.am/eng/news/25006/hovik-baghdasaryan-this-syrian-armenian-busine
ssman-pays-taxes-rather-than-bribes.html
Marine Madatyan
14:57, April 1, 2013
Friends of Syrian-Armenian Hovik Baghdasaryan told him that even if
he made a successful go of it in Armenia "he should not report his
profits to the tax authorities and cry poverty", for that's the way
things are done.
Hovik laughed me if the advice was true and whether he should heed
it or not.
When I visited Hovik after 8pm, the store was still opened for
business. Other stores in the area had already closed for the day.
He opened his shoe store five months ago.
Hovik says that "people in Armenia don't like to work and prefer to
sit and make money."
"But if that same Armenian goes to France, he or she works harder
and does any type of job," notes Hovik.
In August of 2012, Hovik and his family fled Syria when the Islamists
started their assault on Aleppo. Their house was subject to shelling
as well.
They came to Armenia with the intention of only staying a month or
so. Since the situation in Syria hasn't improved, they have stayed on.
Hovik's father started a shoe business in Aleppo. The family owned
a production plant and stores. Now, the plant is closed and only one
of the stores remains open.
[Koshik_2.jpg]
Hovik says their factory was the only one in Aleppo making orthopedic
shoes for adults and kids.
The one store still operating in Aleppo is only open 3-4 hours a day.
"I only have Armenians working in the store. I dismissed all the
Arabs," says Hovik.
He has transferred much of his Aleppo inventory to the new store in
Yerevan under the brand name "Hovik".
The young businessman owns a house in France and says that he could
have moved there but that he prefers to live in Armenia.
"Armenia is more like Syria. It's more relaxed. I wouldn't want my
children growing up in France anyway," he says.
Hovik has purchased an apartment in downtown Yerevan where he and
his wife live with their two daughters and his parents.
[Antuanet.jpg]
His Yerevan store is called Vana, in remembrance of Van, the hometown
of one of his grandmothers.
One of his daughters attends kindergarten and the other goes to
theKilikia School specially set-up for Syrian-Armenian school age
pupils.
Hovik's mother Antoinette helps out in the store as well.
He says that expenses in Armenia are quite high when compared to
Aleppo.
"There a family of four could get by on $150 per month. In Yerevan,
that money only covers a week."
[koshik.jpg]
Hovik says that clerks in other Yerevan stores deal brusquely with
customers; a no-no in the retail business.
"Even if a customer returns a pair of shoes purchased from us, we'll
return their money," he says.
He claims that it's quite easy operating a business in Armenia;
you just have to provide sales receipts for everything you sell.
Hovik confesses that it's not in his nature to bribe another Armenian
and he's not about to start doing so in Armenia.
http://hetq.am/eng/news/25006/hovik-baghdasaryan-this-syrian-armenian-busine
ssman-pays-taxes-rather-than-bribes.html