Armenian Ministry of Agriculture urges procuring companies to repay debts to farmers before April 1

ArmInfo. The Armenian Ministry of Agriculture urges the procuring companies to repay the debts to the farmers before April 1. This was the main issue on the agenda of the meeting held by Agriculture Minister Sergo Karapetyan.   

"Serious problems related to purchase of agricultural products arose last year. We should make efforts to avoid such phenomena this year.  First of all, the matter concerns the need to sign contracts between the processing enterprises and the farmers. This will make it possible to regulate the parties' obligations, particularly, the terms and dates of payment," the press office of the Agriculture Ministry quotes Karapetyan as saying.

As regards the problems that arose last year due to the processing companies' failure to pay for the grapes, the minister stressed that the government provided the procuring enterprises with affordable loans. Now the state is ready to provide collateralized loans to all companies. At the moment, dept redemption is the main priority given that the spring farm work has started ahead of time. So, the minister called upon the procurers to repay the debts to the farm enterprises before April 1.

Speaking of his recent visit to India, Karapetyan pointed at the arrangements on export of Armenian wine and brandy to the Indian market. The negotiations on the delivery are to start in the near future. This year several Indian companies are going to visit Armenia. The Ministry of Agriculture will organize business meetings for the Indian and Armenian manufacturers.