The government plans to provide 450 million drams to 135 fish farmers in the Ararat and Armavir regions, compensating 20% of the average cost of fish feed purchased in the first half of this year.
The acceptance of applications for assistance began this week. Lilit Shaboyan, the press secretary of the Minister of Economy, told Azatutyun that there are already applicants, but their number has not yet reached ten:
“We can state that interest in the program is quite high, just considering that the program has just been adopted, and they are not yet familiar with it, they are now working with our specialists to gather all the necessary documents and submit applications, which after summarization will give us beneficiaries,” said the press secretary of the Ministry of Economy.
The government made the decision to support fish farmers after Minister of Economy Gevorg Papoyan announced that Armenia has officially received permission from the European Commission to export frozen and processed fish and fish products to EU countries.
“They will go electronically to the SATM from the business, after which there are procedures within three days, then within 15 days SATM will conduct the necessary checks, after which these documents, when sent to the European system, our entrepreneur will receive a code that contains all this history,” the minister said.
Then fish farmers from the Ararat and Armavir regions held a protest in front of the government building. They claimed that for about 30 years they have been exporting fish to the Russian market and cannot redirect exports to Europe in one day. Especially in the context of accumulated financial obligations when Russia has banned the import of Armenian fish.
After the protest, the government decided to partially reimburse the costs of fish feed for 135 fish farms, but on the condition that the reimbursable feed must have a certificate that meets EU and EAEU standards.
“Our situation is very difficult”
We asked Armen Karapetyan, a board member of the Fish Farmers Union and owner of the company “Max Fish,” whether this support will alleviate their problems. He said: “This is temporary, it just helps us delay death a little, thanks, but our situation is really very difficult right now.”
Today, fish farmers held a closed meeting and refused to speak in front of the camera about their plans. Among the participants was Armen Karapetyan. His company “Max Fish” has been operating since 2012 and is one of the largest fish farms in Armenia.
The businessman said that he and other entrepreneurs are preparing to take advantage of the government support program and are organizing the necessary documents.
“135 fish farms will apply, which have managed to apply. I think everyone will receive support for temporary preservation because our situation is really very difficult,” he said.
But for his company “Max Fish,” this one-time support is not enough, according to him. He says that the accumulated financial problems are so great that if the situation does not change, he may go bankrupt.
“If we do not manage to sell the surplus fish that we hoped to export to Russia, do not close the loans, we probably will not survive. I can even go bankrupt because if we cannot sell, I see no other option,” says Armen Karapetyan, a board member of the Fish Farmers Union.
