People close down their businesses, lock their homes, and leave the country

Robert Davtyan, who has been running the same business in the Gnuni market for 30 years, now earns just 200,000 drams per month. Once, business was thriving, but in recent years the situation has changed dramatically. After the rise of online marketplaces, demand for the products he sells has sharply declined.

But the problem is not demand alone. Turnover tax rates for small and medium-sized businesses have doubled. As a result of the new tax policy, more than 30,000 small and medium-sized enterprises have closed in the first ten months of 2025.

Of the 200,000 drams he earns, nearly half goes toward paying the stall rent, and the rest is spent on taxes and maintenance fees for the cash-register machine. In the end, he is left with nothing to take home.