Over 120 SMEs Have Applied for Support in Two Days

Over 120 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have applied for support under the framework of the Armenian government's measures to neutralize the economic consequences of the coronavirus. This was stated by the Minister of Economy Tigran Khachatryan, as reported by Armenpress.

“It is still early for me to talk about specific numbers. However, in these two days, we have already received more than 120 applications from organizations under the third measure aimed at supporting small and medium-sized businesses. The total value of these applications exceeds 1.4 billion drams in loan requests,” said Khachatryan.

After receiving these applications, the government will need to determine whether the organizations meet the necessary requirements, such as tax and loan discipline. This information is checked both in the AKRA system and with the State Revenue Committee.

The organizations that can benefit from this support measure must have had a turnover of 24-500 million drams in 2019, and must not have had overdue loan obligations or overdue tax obligations. SMEs engaged in manufacturing, housing, public catering, transportation, warehousing, tourism services, healthcare services, and other service industries can apply for support.

The loans are provided for 36 months, with the first three years—meaning the first 24 months—being interest-free. A 12% interest rate will apply for the 25th to 36th months, and users will have the option to not repay the loans during the first 6 months.

These funds may be used for salary payments for no more than 3 months, mandatory payments for taxes and duties to the state community budget, purchasing and importing raw materials—provided that the materials are used in Armenia—as well as for paying public utility bills and rental payments.

Referring to the support tool for agriculture, the minister noted that it is not new in terms of government support, but it is only new in terms of the volume of support. The directions remain the same, but one important new direction has been added: those engaged in agricultural activities can apply for microfinancing of up to 1 million drams. Agricultural cooperatives also have the opportunity to benefit from new state co-financing options.

To neutralize the economic consequences of the coronavirus, the government of Armenia has developed and adopted several measures. Four support tools are primarily aimed at business and agriculture.