The Armenian government has announced new measures to support local greenhouse farms in response to Russia’s ban on the export of Armenian agricultural products. The authorities plan to extend the loan repayment terms and provide farmers with an additional grace period.

The details of the anti-crisis program were presented by the Minister of Economy at the June 18 executive session Gevorg Papoyan. According to him, this step is aimed at mitigating the problems caused in the agrarian sector as a result of foreign trade barriers. With the new regulations, those economic operators whose state monitoring will prove the fact of greenhouse construction, production and harvest sale by July 1, will benefit from significant benefits. In particular, the current maximum eight-year loan repayment period will be extended by another six months.

Along with that, half a year will be added to the established twelve-month grace period, during which the greenhouse owners will be exempted from paying the principal amount and interest.

The minister also referred to the results of state programs in the field of agriculture, noting that twenty support contracts were signed in previous years. Within their framework, modern greenhouses with a total area of ​​more than 91 hectares have been established and are under construction, one third of which has already been put into operation and produced this year.

Despite the closure of the Russian market, Armenian producers continue to actively diversify the geography of supplies. Only during the first seventeen days of June, more than 400 tons of greenhouse vegetables and strawberries were exported from the country, as well as about 1.8 million flowers. The product is successfully sold in the markets of fifteen countries, covering the European Union, the Middle East and the post-Soviet area, including France, the Netherlands, the UAE and Georgia.

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