Friday, 23 July 2010
The Impact of Operative Staff’s Operative Responsiveness
The Government’s one-year-old Operative Staff expressed readiness to assist such crisis-hit domestic companies in want of borrowed funds as would submit job-extensive and export-oriented business programs. 24 of those the Operative Staff-approved 49 business programs have been reporting progress for a while now. The benefits of State support are manifold: working capital, refurbished facilities, new equipments, job conservation and multiplication. Now let us see which way the government’s financial injections were used and the real GDP growth is behind the published indicators.
How did the Armenian cheese reach Siberia?
The goat-milk-made cheese producing Golden Goat Ltd. would have been nonplussed if the Executive had been slow in response. AMD 69mn worth of support was needed to keep this crisis-hit 70% exporting entity afloat amid a toughly competitive environment. The State support came to the point: now Golden Goat has a completely refurbished cheese factory with much greater capacity than its predecessor. 12 tons of milk instead of 2 tons is processed daily providing jobs to 120 farmers from 11 rural communities against the former 5 villages.
“Today’s market demand makes us believe that the number of both farmers and communities will increase by 50-60%,” Golden Goat CEO Khachik Martirosyan says who expects that some 3500-4000 liters of milk per day will be processed soon at the new factory.
A fourth lot has already been exported toward Siberia. Golden Goat looks forward to getting additional 25mn drams as promised by the national center of small and medium-size enterprise support. This may help the company to take the number of jobs to 38 from the current 30.
Porsche’s web security is in the hands of Armenians
Facing financial problems or perhaps bankruptcy, a foreign customer aggravated the financial position of “Sorcio” IT company.
In order to expand its marketing policy and attract new customers, the Company submitted a business program to the Government. AMD 125mn was made available to the Company in emergency assistance. “This sum allowed us to meet challenges by expanding our marketing and advertising policies. We managed to open a sales outlet in the United States, with another one to be opened in the Silicon Valley,” Sorcio CEO Hovhannes Avoyan told us. Sorcio’s applications proved successful during the monitoring and diagnostics tests carried out for the websites of National Geographic, California State Government, Porsche, Blumberg and others. As a result, Sorcio’s sales portfolio grew 4-fold amid mounting crisis fears.
Roofs in Holland dressed with Armenian tiles
“Marketing and Management 360” tile-manufacturing company approached the Operative Staff asking for a stand-by support to pave the way toward European markets. The assistance was meant to help build additional capacity, broaden product range and conduct offensive marketing policy.
Known as a manufacturer of tiles based on special sand mixtures and secondary polymers – in the form of disposable plastics - the engineering company was accorded the agreed amount of AMD 50mn which was used to get new equipment fit for producing tiles of specific design matching the requirements of Dutch customers. “We are now prepared to export 1000 sq. m. tiles, though as we understand from the first interviews had with the local partners, the Dutch market can absorb up to 40 thousand sq. m. tiles produced by our company,” the chief executive officer of Marketing and Management - 360 Ltd. told us.
Thanks to the government’s intervention, the company has commissioned a new line for the production of brick-textured tiles for the local market doubling the number of jobs to 8, which can be taken to 100 should the company get the planned capacity.
More fish with less water
Boasting 200 tons of fish produced annually, Aquatec-Automatics Ltd had set the task of developing a new technology to produce more fish with less water. Their modernization program won the support of the Operative Staff.
Having the Government’s recommendation, Freda farm-lending foundation extended an AMD 200mn loan of seven-year payback period and 10% interest rate. “Since we have limited water resources in Armenia, the attracted funds are being used to refurbish the plant allowing for significant water savings,” Director of Aquatec-Automatics Ltd Arkady Gevorgyan says. “Our water pools are enriched with oxygen allowing us to recycle the water by means of special bio-filters.” Up to 1000 tons of fish can be produced annually with expanded sales outlets.
In the meantime, the company tries to meet the home demand for fish: “Market demand for red roe is met by 20-30%. Efforts are underway to meet the demand for black roe. Locally produced trout has completely ousted the imports, and the share of imported sturgeon is insignificant.”
P. S.
Transparency is at the heart of Operative Staff’s activities. By tracing back every single support, “Hraparakum” contributes thereby to the cause of transparency. The Government’s decisions, projected actions, achievements and shortfalls are scrutinized and screened on Public TV every Tuesday and Friday at 6:55 p.m. Our web address is the same: hraparakum.livejournal.com.
