ArmInfo.According to the situation, at present 120 applications have been submitted for a total of 1.4 billion drams for state assistance in the framework of programs to overcome the consequences of the coronavirus.
Minister of Economy of the Republic of Armenia Tigran Khachatryan stated this on April 3 at a press conference in Yerevan. According to him, there is currently a process of studying these applications, the main conditions for the satisfaction of which is the absence of tax and credit obligations at the end of 2019.
The Minister emphasized that within the framework of the programs, business entities can use four assistance mechanisms. First of all, it is the fast financial provision of the subjects with financial resources of the country's commercial banks. A feature of this mechanism is that the commercial banks themselves decide which organizations are entitled to state assistance in credit financing and refinancing of interest rates.
The second mechanism, as the minister noted, concerns agriculture, which, on the whole, is not new, but the volumes of financing are new.
This area is especially important on the eve of the organization of spring field work. In addition to the existing programs, the villagers will be able to attract interest-free loans of up to 1 million drams.
The third mechanism is the financing of small and medium-sized business programs aimed at preserving jobs and wage funds. In this case, the salary of every fifth employee will be financed by the state. In the SME sector, loans will be provided for a period of 36 months, the maximum loan rate is 50 million drams with a grace period of payments in the first 2 years. This program, which will be extended to companies with an annual turnover of 24 to 500 million drams, the minister noted, can be extended to the tourism and hotel business.
Tigran Khachatyan also noted that in 2019, about 9 thousand beneficiaries attracted 53 billion drams in the framework of state assistance programs for credit resources. It is expected that in 2020 the number of beneficiaries will increase to at least 10 thousand, and the volume of attracted resources to at least 60 billion drams. To note, the government has already approved and starting to apply 9 packages of state assistance in the social sector.