Expert: Due to the pricerise, the government of Armenia needs to look for new markets for the import of goods

ArmInfo. The pricerise of  food products in Armenia, in particular butter and meat, is due to  international trends, said Vazgen Safaryan, the chairman of the Union  of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Armenia, responding to the  question of ArmInfo during a press conference on October 18.

"Most of the butter, Armenia imports from New Zealand, where prices  have risen to $ 5.9 per kg, which is why our importers raised the  cost to $ 6.2. Therefore, now the government needs to explore new  markets for the import of the same butter, meat and other product  lines," he said. According to Safaryan, the Ministry of Foreign  Affairs should play a decisive role in this matter, in particular,  conducting the corresponding work with the embassies. "I think that  in the next 2-3 months our government will find new markets and will  act as a guarantor for importers," Safaryan said.

At the same time, Safaryan noted that today's pricerise in meat is  due to weather conditions, which led to higher prices for fodder  crops and a reduction in the number of livestock. As alternative  markets for meat imports, he called countries where cattle farming is  a priority sector of agriculture, in particular Uruguay, Argentina.  According to Safaryan, there is a need to study the import  capabilities of these markets, which can subsequently lead to the  signing of intergovernmental agreements.

At the same time, the expert referred to the policy pursued by Russia  and the EU countries in terms of retaining the growth of prices for  agricultural products. "At one time, Russia allocated 13% of the  budget for subsidizing agricultural loans, the EU countries - more  than 40%. And we support only greenhouses, where we grow cucumbers  and tomatoes, which are in high demand in Russia," he said.   According to the head of the Union, support should be provided to the  entire production sector, actively using public-private partnerships,  thus providing affordable loans to farmers, which will contribute to  the development of the entire production.

According to the RA Customs Service, Armenia imported frozen meat of  cattle in volume of 3.1 thousand tons in 2016, with an annual growth  of 11.4%, with India accounting for 64.3% of imports.  The oil was  imported to Armenia in the volume of 4.7 thousand tons with an annual  growth of 7.8%.  65.3% of imported oil was imported to New Zealand.