First Deputy Minister of Agriculture of Armenia: The state should  speak the same language with the producer and business

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.