ArmInfo.First Deputy Minister of Agriculture of Armenia Gegham Gevorgyan held a meeting on March 18 with the participation of representatives of a number of companies involved in milk processing.According to the press service of the Ministry of Agriculture, Gevorkyan said that the purpose of the Ministry is to develop the sphere, increase the competitiveness of the local producer by quickly solving the tasks facing the producers.
"The principled position of the government is that the state should speak the same language with the manufacturer and business," he said.He recalled that, responding to the requests of milk processors, the list of potential beneficiaries of the state program of subsidizing processors of agricultural raw materials was expanded. In particular, loans have become more affordable for milk producers, who can use financial resources at the rate of 3% per annum.In addition, an exemplary sample of the contract for the purchase of milk has been developed on the website of the Ministry of Agriculture, according to which the purchase and pricing should be carried out by grade.Recall that in Armenia the credit limit on leasing equipment for processing agricultural products has been increased from 230 million drams to 450 million drams.
The decision was taken at the March 7 meeting of the RA government. Four banks and 3 credit organizations are currently participating in the program. The application of the new limit will enable processing enterprises and other economic entities to take more active part in the leasing program, according to which, in fact, the borrower will pay only 4%, the rest is subsidized by the state.In addition, the program now includes the leasing of isothermal milk tanks. For business entities,operating in the border regions, the interest rate will be reduced to zero, i.e. state from state budget fundswill pay all amount of interest.Earlier, ArmInfo reported that Ameriabank, Armswissbank, Converse Bank and Armeconombank are participating in the leasing state program for the agrifood sector. In addition, the project involves the ACBA Leasing leasing company and two universal credit companies (UKK) - Development and Investment Corporation of Armenia (DICA, formerly known as SME Investments) and CARD Agro Credit. Under the program, lessees have the opportunity to purchase agricultural equipment and equipment on lease on the following terms: prepayment - 20%, interest rate - 4% per annum (including 7% of the stipulated 11% provided), repayment period - up to 8 years.This program is aimed at entrepreneurs engaged in such areas as cattle breeding, plant growing, poultry farming, beekeeping, refrigeration facilities (including milk processing stations), agro-processing and agro-food, as well as extending to entities engaged in sorting and packaging fruit and vegetable and leguminous crops and industrial grazing and slaughter facilities. The program is open to all financial organizations.