ArmInfo. High-tech companies in Armenia will receive state assistance. The government of the country at the meeting on May 7 approved the 17th package of events aimed at supporting enterprises in the field of information and high technologies.
According to the Minister of High-Tech Industry of the Republic of Armenia Hakob Arshakyan, the COVID-19 pandemic negatively affected the field of high technologies. According to a survey conducted among 185 companies, it turned out that 54% of them faced financial problems, which led to 45% of free human resources. Taking into account the government's policy, it is proposed to start implementing another assistance program - the 17th in a row by providing grants to maintain jobs, apply new ideas and commercialize them. In particular, an innovative grant is being introduced, which will be extended to companies creating a product registered in Armenia over the past two years. The maximum grant amount is 10 million drams. The program will also be applied to companies established on the market that have been working for more than 2 years, providing services, investing and creating new products. For them, the maximum grant amount will be 20 million drams. And finally, co- financing grants to be provided to venture companies and business angels. Grants will be given to them with fixed and approved investments. In this issue, the volumes of co-financing of the parties will be 100%, but not more than 30 million drams. Hakob Arshakyan noted that the new program will allow high-tech companies to stay afloat. 75% of them export their products to the countries of North America and Europe, where due to the coronavirus there is a difficult financial situation. As a result, many contracts were slowed down, not to mention the conclusion of new contracts. Grants will be distributed according to already approved criteria within individual lots.