Government Reaches Agreement with Brandy Factories on Grape Procurement, Papikyan

The Government of Armenia has reached an agreement with brandy factories to ensure the procurement of grapes at a price not lower than 130 AMD per kilogram. This was announced by Deputy Prime Minister Suren Papikyan during the Government Hour at the National Assembly on September 15, addressing recent difficulties regarding grape procurement.

“This concerns the technical grape varieties used in the production of brandy. As a result of this agreement, the procurement companies promised to issue a statement. But the most important thing is that we decided not to postpone issues so that they do not deepen further in a year. We will form a working group with the participation of representatives of farmers and factories, which will regularly discuss the problems of the entire production chain and look for ways to resolve them,” said Papikyan.

He also emphasized that the government will continue to provide subsidies to wine and canned goods factories, as well as to exporters of fresh fruits and vegetables, in exchange for crop purchase subsidies. Currently, subsidies for loans are provided to each factory up to 4 billion AMD.

“The funds are allocated not to the factory, but directly to the farmers with whom the company has contracts. Thus, the factories have the opportunity to pay farmers under favorable conditions, and they, in turn, receive this money immediately,” said the Deputy Prime Minister.