Tuesday, 12 August 2014
Prime Minister pays working visit to Armavir Marz
Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan paid a working visit to a number of communities in Armavir Marz to learn the problems of concern to the local population and discuss ways of addressing them.
The Prime Minister first called at the watermelon plantations in Arazap community. The local farmers, who had gathered there, thanked the government for the provision through the Ministry of Agriculture of effective means against moth, thanks to which extraordinarily healthy crops are available this year.
Coming down to priority issues, the villagers asked the head of government to help get a transformer for the village pump and a tractor. Promising to solve the problems raised by the farmers, the Prime Minister gave the necessary instructions to the decision-makers responsible.
The residents of Argavand asked Hovik Abrahamyan to help refurbish the community kindergarten. The Prime Minister complied with their request and asked for a cost estimate.
Addressing a problem raised by farmers in Tandzut, the Prime Minister promised to grant the possibility of using another deep well in the community. Leaving Tandzut for Alashkert community, Hovik Abrahamyan called at a private vineyard to get familiar with a project deployed on an area of 5 hectares. Responding to the farmer’s request, Hovik Abrahamyan asked him to submit a business plan in support of the development project.
The Premier underscored that the government is prepared to assist with the implementation of similar business plans produced by any citizen of the Republic of Armenia. Sardarapat community residents asked the Prime Minister to discuss with the processing entities the possibility of slightly increasing purveyance prices, because the applicable ones are too low and do not cover the farmers’ costs.
Arriving in Armavir town, Hovik Abrahamyan met with the former residents of damaged residential buildings N11 and N13 who had moved to the overhauled administrative building of the local cannery. The building was renovated in 2012 with funds available from the regional administration. While comfortable housing conditions have been created, the affected 50 families have not yet got certificates of ownership. The Prime Minister told the Marz Governor to provide the households with ownership certificates by this September 10.
After the meetings held with the residents of Armavir Marz, the Prime Minister toured the premises of Levon» Ltd., a vegetable processing cannery, inspecting the production facilities and programs. 90 percent of the plant’s output is exported to Belgium, Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, and 10 percent is supplied to the Army. In order to cope with its financial problems, the Company asked the government to provide a loan for the replenishment of its working capital.
In a news briefing the head of government summarized the results of his working visit, saying that the farmers raised issues related to increased use of deep wells, the cost of purveyed agricultural products, the availability of agricultural machinery, as well as the lending conditions.
In this connection, the Prime Minister told reporters that the government has earmarked AMD 1 billion 500 million from its reserve fund to rehabilitate 119 deep wells in Armavir Marz. The possibility of increasing the level of farm subsidies is being discussed.
Hovik Abrahamyan noted that to boost the agricultural sector, the government is working on a program of long-term loans and greenhouse development. “We have quite a large resource - about USD100 million – that will be provided to farmers with a view to building new greenhouses. This is a great opportunity to create jobs and products for export,” the Prime Minister said.
Turning to the question of border incidents, the Prime Minister said that after the meeting of the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Sochi ceasefire violations have drastically reduced in intensity.
