Tuesday, September 26 2017 17:37

ArmInfo. The well-known world  manufacturer of agricultural machinery - CLAAS company intends to  expand its presence in the agricultural machinery market of Armenia.  The Minister of Agriculture of Armenia, Ignaty Arakelyan, on  September 26 received the chief manager in Central Asia and Caucasus  of the company Global Sales Thomas Shtigler and the  commercial director of the company in Krasnodar, Michael  Ritter. The founder of LLC , the representative of the  company Artur Ivanyan, attended the meeting.

According to the press service of the ministry, the interlocutors  noted the importance of opening the first agricultural machinery in  Armenia in the frames of the program of providing agricultural  machinery in leasing, where the products of the company were  also presented.

According to Thomas Shtigler, the company is interested in the  agricultural machinery market of Armenia.  He noted the readiness to  discuss the import of equipment produced by the company from  Krasnodar (Russia) to Armenia, on more flexible and accessible  conditions for the Armenian farmer.

The parties attached importance to raising awareness of the  beneficiaries of the program in relation to the products of the  agricultural producer. In this context, the representatives of the  company expressed their readiness to second the specialists of CLAAS  to conduct on-site training courses. The prospect of establishing a  company service center in Armenia was also discussed.

Earlier ArmInfo informed, starting from March 27, reception of  applications for participation in the program on provision of  agricultural machinery in leasing started in Armenia. According to  the program approved by the Cabinet, farmers will be able to purchase  agricultural equipment on the following conditions: advance payment -  20%, interest rate - 2% per annum, maturity - 3-10 years, depending  on the type of equipment. Another 7% will be subsidized by the state.  As a result, it is expected that in 2017 about 2.2 billion drams will  be allocated for the purchase of agricultural machinery. Under this  state program, it is possible to purchase tractors of different  brands, grain harvesters, balers, seeders, plows, mowers, potato-  sowers, potato diggers, cultivators, trucks, sprayers and other  agricultural equipment. May 18 at a meeting of the Cabinet approved  the plan for the organization of the state-owned machine and tractor  station (MTS).  In the first half of 2017 700 million drams are  planned to be allocated from the government's reserve fund for the  implementation of the program and purchase of the necessary  agricultural machinery. The Ministry of Agriculture will provide this  equipment on a gratuitous basis to the Agricultural Development Fund  for further allocation to farmers. For their part, private traders  will invest 242 million AMD. After 4 years, the minister said, the  funds will be returned with interest, in the amount of 926 million.