ArmInfo. The Ministry of Agriculture of Armenia intends to solve the problem of unprocessed land. As head of the department Artur Khachatryan told journalists on May 31, first of all it is necessary to find out the reasons that prevent the involvement of unprocessed lands in agricultural production. Moreover, this year nature has proved to be favorable for farmers.
The minister added that currently about 40% of agricultural land is not cultivated. He noted that recently, under the chairmanship of the vice-mayor, a meeting was held with representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture, the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance, where the issue of amnesty for fines and penalties for agricultural producers was discussed. Several options are considered, including by adjusting credit histories of citizens in the tax register or in the ACRA credit bureau, which, in the minister's opinion, will not subsequently affect the credit possibilities of farmers. At the same time, Artur Khachatryan denied rumors about the possibility of writing off credit debts. "It's only about fines and penalties," the minister said.
Presenting today the deputies of the parliament the results of the implementation of the state budget of 2017, he also stressed the importance of the construction of reservoirs, which will allow to irrigate considerable areas. In a number of regions of the country, the lack of irrigation water prevents peasants from breaking down gardens. It is also important, Arthur Khachatryan stressed, to conduct zoning of agricultural lands, which will provide an opportunity to develop an effective rural development program.
In turn, RA Minister of Finance Atom Janjugazyan informed the deputies that in 2017, 9.8 billion AMD were allocated from the state budget to implement 18 agricultural programs, of which 1.160 billion AMD were allocated to subsidize interest rates on agricultural loans. Another 3 billion AMD were sent to the RA Ministry of Agriculture from the Government Reserve Fund for the implementation of a number of new projects.
To note, according to the rating service of the ArmInfo News Agency, the volume of overdue bank loans of the agricultural sector as of April 1, 2018 was 26.8 billion AMD ($ 55.9 million), decreasing by 16.5% year-on-year due to write-offs from balances. It is noteworthy that 61% of this total amount of non- performing loans is bad loans.
