ArmInfo. During its regular meeting on January 15, the Armenian government made amendments to the Greenhouse Development Support Program in the Republic of Armenia.
Minister of Economy Gevorg Papoyan presented the document and stated that 20 contracts had been signed under the program for the establishment of greenhouse farms, totaling 88.3 hectares. Of these, 23.5 hectares of greenhouses have already been built, and construction of another 64.8 hectares will begin in 2025 alone.
According to the Ministry of Economy, most of these will be commissioned this year. The program provides loans of up to 15 billion drams for the construction of greenhouses equipped with advanced technologies, with an area of 1 hectare or more. The loan is provided for a term of up to 8 years, with a grace period of up to 12 months for both the principal amount and interest rate.
Given that the program's performance indicators were exceeded, particularly for the 35-hectare portion, certain changes were made to the program in October 2025. Specifically, the interest rate subsidy provided to each beneficiary starting January 1, 2026, was reduced, and the deadline for beneficiaries to submit documents after completing construction under the program was clarified. Specifically, loans of up to 3 billion drams will be subsidized by 8 percentage points, loans of 3-9 billion drams will be subsidized by 7 percentage points, and loans of 9-15 billion drams will be subsidized by 6 percentage points, instead of the current 10, 9, and 8 percentage points, respectively. The program also includes a 12-month grace period for interest and principal payments. The loan repayment term is 8 years.
The new draft proposes increasing the interest rate subsidy on loans provided to every young entrepreneur (individuals aged 18 to 35, sole proprietors, and commercial legal entities) and individuals aged 63 and older, sole proprietors, and commercial legal entities, by 1 percentage point (pp). In particular, starting January 1, 2026, the subsidy will be applied for loan amounts up to and including AMD 3 billion (inclusive) by 8 pp, for young entrepreneurs and individuals over 63 by 9 pp, for amounts over AMD 3 billion and up to and including AMD 9 billion (inclusive) by 7 pp, for young entrepreneurs and individuals over 63 by 8pp, for amounts over AMD 9 billion and up to and including AMD 15 billion (inclusive) by 6 pp, and for young entrepreneurs and individuals over 63 by 7 pp.
According to the draft, with respect to young people employed in agriculture and individuals who have reached the age of 63, the subsidy of interest rates on loans will apply to those commercial legal entities that have one founder (participant) and one shareholder who is also the director of the said commercial legal entity, and the latter's age corresponds to the age established for individuals. Furthermore, in this case, the commercial legal entity must not change the founder (participant) or shareholder of the legal entity during the term of the loan agreement, and the founder (participant) or shareholder of the latter must not alienate their share(s) or any portion thereof during the term of the loan agreement.
Under this project, according to the Ministry of Economy, if the subsidy rate is increased by 1 percentage point for young entrepreneurs and individuals over 63 in 2026, subject to the creation of greenhouse farms with an area of approximately 3 hectares, the annual additional expenditures of the state budget in 2026 are estimated at approximately 22.7 million drams. The project is expected to facilitate the involvement of young entrepreneurs and individuals over 63 in the greenhouse sector.
