On February 21, the Freedom of Information Center together with the RA Chamber of Commerce and Industry organized a meeting and discussion on the topic of declaration of real beneficiaries. In 2023 from January 1, all RA legal entities are obliged to identify and declare their real beneficiaries. The deadline for submitting the statement is March 1. Administrative and criminal liability is established for failure to submit the declaration and improper submission.

The purpose of the meeting was to give the representatives of small and medium businesses an opportunity to jointly discuss the issues related to the declaration of real beneficiaries.

"The process is new, there are various problems, and we, as a structure protecting the interests of the business community, value this meeting from the point of view of mapping the problems related to the declaration process from the business side and developing joint options for their solution," said the executive director of the RA Chamber of Commerce and Industry in his speech. Andranik Aleksanyan.

In the first part of the meeting, IAC researcher Harutyun Tsatryan presented the results of the research project on "Impact of declaration of beneficial owners on the private sector" carried out with the support of the Center for International Private Entrepreneurship (CIPE).

In the second part of the meeting, the participants had the opportunity to address their concerns to Hripsime Iskandaryan, the representative of the authorized body implementing the declaration process, the agency of the State Register of Legal Entities of the RA Ministry of Justice.

Ms. Iskandaryan presented the stages of the declaration procedure, suggested where to find guidance materials related to the topic, answered the questions of the attendees.

Answers to the main questions related to the declaration can be found in the relevant section of the official website of the State Register. You can get acquainted with the procedure of declaration also through video-guides specially prepared for that purpose.