Armenia adjusting greenhouse subsidies  to attract young  entrepreneurs and individuals over 63 years  to the sector

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.