ArmInfo.Armenian authorities will provide assistance to farmers who have established intensive orchards and who have faced restrictions on exporting their produce to the Russian Federation. The decision was made at a government meeting on June 25.
Presenting the draft decision, RA Minister of Economy Gevorg Papoyan emphasized that this applies to farmers who received benefits from the RA government under state support programs. The Cabinet decision proposes extending the repayment terms for the principal amount of their loans and interest rates for one year. The minister noted that for many farmers, the loan repayment terms have either expired or will expire before July 31, 2027. With the decision, the grace period for loan repayments and interest will be extended, and program participants will not have to make any payments for one year.
The Minister recalled that a similar decision was previously made for beneficiaries engaged in greenhouse farming, but at that time, the program's implementation period was limited to six months. The difference in deadlines stems from the frequency of greenhouse harvests throughout the year. Beneficiaries of the new program must submit a certificate from the Ministry of Economy confirming monitoring of the timing of the establishment of an intensive orchard and a certificate from the State Revenue Committee on the volume of produce sold by September 1 of this year.
Another initiative concerns the establishment of new intensive orchards and water reservoirs covering an area of at least 10 hectares and 10,000 cubic meters of water. In this case, legal entities and individuals will be allowed to implement programs without the involvement of contractors, provided that the beneficiaries submit audit results conducted by both domestic and international audit firms.
It should be noted that as of June 1, 2026, applications for the establishment of approximately 8,916 hectares of intensive orchards had been submitted in the Republic of Armenia under state programs to support the development of intensive horticulture, the introduction of modern technologies, and the production of non-traditional high-value crops. Over 5,500 hectares of intensive orchards have been established. The project envisages the provision of preferential terms for loans issued for the establishment of approximately 1,900 hectares of orchards.
The minister also reported that as of June 24, 1,071 tons of apricots had been exported, 90 percent of which were exported in the past week alone. 882 tons of cherries, 100 tons of mulberries, 40 tons of small sweet apples, 87 tons of strawberries, and 140 tons of tomatoes were also exported. As Papoyan noted, sales have declined only in two areas: tomatoes and flowers. Other areas have seen little decline: produce is either sold domestically or exported. However, as the minister noted, prices for agricultural products have declined within the republic.
