On October 4, a regular meeting of the SME Development Sub-Council was held, chaired by Deputy Minister of Economy Rafael Gevorgyan.

The agenda of the meeting included a number of issues, the first of which referred to the representation of Armenian producers in the "Wildberries" trade platform. In particular, it was reported that rapidly spreading around the world, including in Armenia, this platform does not allow Armenian producers to register and sell their products. It was also mentioned that " Wildberries " is represented in Armenia only through delivery points (supply to the consumer), but does not have a reception point. At the same time, there is no opportunity for Armenian companies to register as a seller on the Wildberries website, Armenian producers sell through intermediaries in other countries, which significantly increases the price of the product. In order to solve these and other problems arising on the platform, it was proposed to take measures to ensure the possibility of direct sales from Armenia.

It was assigned, that a working group will be set up to organize negotiations to resolve the issue in a more coordinated way.

The need to introduce the institute of Business Ombudsman in Armenia was also discussed during the meeting. In this regard, it was noted that currently in the Republic of Armenia there are no mechanisms to protect the interests of businessmen, to which the beneficiaries would show unequivocal trust, at the same time, through these mechanisms it would be possible to achieve rapid restoration of the violated rights. The protection of the interests of businessmen is mostly carried out in the public sector through non-governmental organizations that protect the interests of businessmen, whose opportunities are very limited.

It was emphasized, that in a number of countries there are bodies operating to protect the interests of businessmen, which are designed to ensure proper communication between businessmen and public agencies. Therefore, the establishment of a Business Ombudsman in Armenia will create additional effective guarantees for the protection of business interests, stimulate investment attraction, ensure effective and timely processing of business applications, restoration of violated or disputed business rights, improvement of business environment and reduction of corruption risks. The basis for a more effective dialogue, such as the preconditions for adopting legal acts proposed by entrepreneurs to improve the business environment, making changes and additions to them.

In this regard, it was decided to organize additional discussions within the framework of the public-private sector dialogue to inform about the results during the next meetings.

The next issue on the agenda was related to the development of factoring in Armenia and the increase of the factoring portfolio in the banking system of Armenia. Studies have shown that at present there are no legislative barriers to factoring, but there is a need to conduct fact-finding awareness-raising activities and study international experience to develop mechanisms for developing factoring in Armenia.

The next meeting of the SME Development Sub-Council is planned to be organized during the first week of November.