Farmers Promise to Not Only Block Roads but Also Demolish Them During Protest

The protest continued today on the Ejmiatsin-Artashat road, where a group of livestock breeders and meat producers were voicing their opposition against the mandatory conditions for slaughtering large and small livestock in slaughterhouse facilities. They met with the head of the agricultural and environmental department of the Armavir regional administration and the head of the regional center of the State Food Safety Service.

The discussion with the farmers ended in argument, as the officials justifying the state's position, according to the farmers, only spoke about sanitary and hygienic conditions. They were neglecting the interests of the livestock breeders, and during this moment were simply trying to pacify them by presenting good offers.

“This isn’t going to work, they'll be selling the fifth form later” (the certificate proving that the livestock was slaughtered in a slaughterhouse), “I am a slaughterer, I can slaughter any livestock. Why should I pay someone else to do it?” “Livestock is suffering on the roads — it remains hungry, it is stressed, we are causing damage,” “This favors those who keep 50-100 livestock, but grandparents who have thousands of livestock keep two for that livestock. Now they need to slaughter them, where are they supposed to take the livestock?” the farmers stated.

The farmers noted that all this is being done so that small-scale livestock keepers cannot work, allowing larger businesses to take everything into their hands and establish a monopoly in the sector. According to the State Food Safety Service, there are currently 38 slaughterhouses operating in Armenia, with another 20 under internal finishing and 27 at the planning stage. The slaughtering price at the slaughterhouse is 10,000 dram for large cattle, 3,500 dram for small cattle, and 5,000 dram for pigs. For orders of three or more animals, transportation to the slaughterhouse is free up to 30 kilometers.

It is worth mentioning that the government decision, effective from January 15 this year, was initially adopted on February 15, 2018, and its implementation was postponed due to the small number of operating slaughterhouses. Even after it started functioning 11 months later, it faced strong resistance; protests erupted both near the government building and in various communities along regional roads.

To convey their grievances to the government, the farmers also attempted to block the Armavir-Yerevan highway today, but after a scuffle between the police and protesters, the road was reopened. The protest continued at the roadside. Around 4 PM, the protest ended, and the livestock breeders stated that they await the decision resulting from discussions at the regional administration. If it does not satisfy them, the protests will continue not just with road blockages, but also by “demolishing roads at night.”