On February 27 the RA Commercial Court started hearing the suit of “VEM”, “Impulse”,
“City FM”, “Ardzagank”, Radio “HAY”, “FM 105.5” radio companies, demanding to
abolish the act of a state body, namely, clause 1 of the Resolution of the RA
Government No.946-N of July 6, 2006. According to this clause, the RA Ministry
of Transportation and Communication receives the authority to define and approve
the annual fee for servicing a broadcasting frequency, which, in the opinion
of the plaintiffs, runs contrary to the Constitution and the legislation of
Armenia. As it has been reported, in accordance with the decree of the Minister
of Transportation and Communication of November 1, 2006 the procedure for the
payment and the new tariffs for servicing frequencies allocated to radio companies
were introduced. Following this decree, the Republican Center of Telecommunications
demanded to make the payment for 2006 before December 25. On January 25, 2007
these radio companies challenged this decision in court. The refusal to pay
was argumented by the six radio companies by that the Minister’s decree violated
the legislation demands, primarily Article 9 of the RA Law “On Legal Acts”.
The Article stipulates that “the kinds, amounts and the procedures of tax, duty
and other mandatory payments made by natural and legal persons” must be defined
“by law only” (see details in YPC Weekly Newsletter, January
19-25, 2007 and January 8-11,
2007).
At the session of February 27 the attorney of the radio companies Olga Safarian
asked to give her time to study the explanation, provided by the government,
and to prepare the objections. The motion was secured.
The next court session is scheduled for March 12.
