The Ministry of Agriculture took up solving problems of shortage of working capital from the procurement enterprises of Armenia

ArmInfo. As of today, Armenia's procurement enterprises from the accumulated for 2015-2016 debt of 1660.4 million AMD to farmers for fruits and vegetables owe 156 million AMD. In order to avoid similar situations in the future, a new state program of providing agricultural credits for procurement companies will be implemented in Armenia, Armenian Minister of Agriculture Ignatiy Arakelyan said at a press conference on July 10.

According to Araqelyan,  from the total amount of outstanding debt of 120 million AMD, a repayment schedule was drawn up, negotiated between the supplier and farmers. The debts of Vinar LTD to the farmers of the community of Kakhtsrashen and adjacent areas remain problematic. Payments for the company's debts, as the minister noted, were provided through joint efforts of state structures. The Ministry of Agriculture expects to receive the remaining amount of 30 million AMD on the basis of realization of the brandy spirits Vinar of Shahnazaryan company. Earlier, the Shahnazaryan Wine-Cognac House had already purchased alcohol, which was available to the debtor company, for about 50 million AMD.

In order to avoid similar situations in the future and for the purpose of providing working capital, Armenian Ministry of Agriculture, while still in pilot mode, offers a new program of affordable loans for processing enterprises. "Very often, processing enterprises feel a shortage of financial resources, as a result of which they delay payments for farmers' harvest, which in turn are credited to banks," the head of the Ministry of Agriculture said.

According to the head of Ministry of Agriculture, 2.3 billion AMD will be directed for financing at 3% per annum. The main criterion for granting credit will be the creditworthiness of the procurer. It is also important that, as Arakelyan stressed, the financing will be allocated directly to farms according to the agreement, which will allow the introduction of a culture of relations on contractual bases, as well as avoid the practice of debt of buyers to the villagers. Based on the request, the expediency of saving the program in the future will be evaluated.