Saturday, 21 June 2014
PM, Winemakers Discuss Ways of Boosting Winemaking Industry
Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan received the representatives of domestic wineries to discuss development ways, opportunities and prospects.
Welcoming the guests to the Office of Government, the Premier said. “The Government will pay great attention to the development of agriculture. We need to support our farmers. I am convinced that we boast vast rural development opportunities. In developing the State budget bill, the Government will focus on the development of infrastructures to enable investors to work in rural areas.”
Then the representatives of wineries introduced their concerns, proposals and ideas. In particular, referring to the questions raised by economic agents with regard to some problems related to the law on excise duty, the Prime Minister instructed the Ministers of Finance, Economy and Agriculture to work with the Winemakers’ Union and discuss the possibility of amending the legislation in order to create more favorable conditions for economic entities.
Hovik Abrahamyan expressed the government’s readiness to support the winemakers in their effort to set up a state-of-the-art laboratory and provide expert training. At the same time, the Premier urged them to organize the harvesting activities in a way to cause minimum inconveniences to the farmers.
The parties next discussed the prices applied in the process of grapes procurement, the interest rates of loans available to business entities, the problems encountered in the matter of exports, including the situation at the Upper Lars border checkpoint.
The head of government advised that the problem had been discussed in all detail with RF Minister of Transport, Russian co-chair of the Armenian-Russian intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation Maxim Sokolov: they had agreed to find a solution to the problem of snow avalanches and landslides caused by climatic conditions, which negatively affect the freight turnover.
Hovik Abrahamyan said the matter was going to be taken up during his upcoming visit to the Russian Federation. He assured that the Government would back domestic producers by assisting them to invest in modernization and export projects.
Appreciating the winemakers’ expertise in solving problems, the Prime Minister said to be prepared to hold meetings like this on a regular basis, anticipating economic entities’ constructive proposals and initiatives.
