ArmInfo. A meeting of the Interdepartmental Commission on Free Economic Zones was held at the Armenian Ministry of Economy, chaired by Minister Gevorg Papoyan.
According to the Ministry's press service, the participants reviewed the results of activities for 2025 based on reports and declarations submitted by the FEZ organizers and operators. Particular attention was paid to the current status of the Meghri FEZ, as well as further steps aimed at developing the FEZs.
Following the meeting, relevant decisions were made and new instructions were given. It should be noted that during a press conference in early 2026, Minister of Economy Gevorg Papoyan spoke about problems with the owner of the Meghri FEZ, emphasizing that the legal proceedings in this case had dragged on. "Until there is a legal solution, we can't do anything," the minister noted.
As a reminder, the Armenian government approved a draft resolution on the creation of the Meghri Free Economic Zone on the border with Iran on December 7, 2017, during a regular meeting.
Meanwhile, criminal cases were opened in 2019 regarding land plots adjacent to the Meghri FEZ. As Nikol Pashinyan claimed at the time, the lands were acquired by "high-ranking" officials at ridiculous prices and through fraud.
According to the Prime Minister, some "strange" facts emerged during the implementation of the SEZ program. "We had preliminary information that high-ranking officials, aware of plans to establish a SEZ in this area, had acquired adjacent land plots at ridiculous prices. During my visit last year, it became clear that there was no state-owned land there for the project," Pashinyan stated.
At the time, it was reported that the issue would be resolved within two to three months, and all the facts indicated that the land plots would be returned to the state. If the investigation proves the transactions to be fraudulent, grounds will be established for invalidating them, and those responsible will be held accountable, the Prosecutor General's Office stated.
The land area assigned to the SEZ does not exceed 2 hectares. It was planned to eventually grow to 10 hectares, and then expand to 50 hectares. However, negotiations with private landowners did not produce the desired result. For this reason, the state is forced to take the unpopular route of alienating these lands on the grounds of public interest. It is unknown whether this issue has been resolved.
The total cost of constructing the Meghri SEZ was estimated at $32 million, of which $28 million was capital expenditure. It was anticipated that 100-120 companies would operate there, generating $52 million in revenue over 10 years, with their products planned to be exported to Iran, the EAEU, the Middle East, Turkmenistan, and other countries. The total investment by all companies over 10 years was planned to reach $350-400 million. The operation of the SEZ is already legally enshrined in the EAEU Customs Code. A total of seven such zones will operate within the EAEU under the duty-free system.
