14 January 2013, 18:00
Some 50 Yerevan dentists protest against new tax policy
Today, in Yerevan, at the presidential palace, dentists held an action to protest against introduction of the new tax policy.
About 50 participants of the protest action demanded to cancel amendments to the tax legislation adopted by the Parliament, in accordance with that a dentist should pay a tax for a "chair" in amount of 60,000-100,000 drams (150-250 US dollars) a month, depending on the location of dental clinic.
The introduction of those measures will automatically lead raise prices for all services. This was told to the "Caucasian Knot" by dentist Karen Mikaelyan.
"We will have to raise prices for our services, and that is natural. And that will be a very hard stroke against young budding doctors who already have a very small number of patients. Only some persons are aware that a so-called dental tourism is developed in Armenia. A lot of tourists from Russia come here for dental care, and in Armenia, the prices for dental care are three times lower than in Russia. More than half of dentists will go to 'shadow' and begin to work illegally," he has explained.
According to the opinion of Margarita Avakyan, a participant of the protest action, such a policy towards dentists will lead to closure of dental clinics and migration of dentists.
Author: Lilit Ovanisyan Source: CK correspondent
