#11 BFC Armenia Agriculture Finance Bulletin

04/2016

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11 A rm e n i a Agriculture Finance Bulletin Government to Help Sevan Restore Trout Reserves Armenian Agriculture Minister Mets with Dutch Ambassador Armenia’s Apricot Production Estimated between 45,000 and 55,000 Tons Armenian Cheese Production on the Rise

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Agriculture Finance Bulletin Edition #11, April 2016

Contents State Initiatives ........................................................................................................... 2 1) 2) 3)

Free Irrigation Water for Armenian Farmers .................................................................................. 2 Government to Help Sevan Restore Trout Reserves ....................................................................... 2 Armenian Agriculture Minister Mets with Dutch Ambassador ....................................................... 2

Private Sector.............................................................................................................. 3 4) 5) 6) 7) 8)

Armenia’s Apricot Production Estimated between 45,000 and 55,000 Tons ................................. 3 Only 30% of Poultry Consumed in Armenia is Locally Produced..................................................... 3 Armenian Alcoholic Beverages Decline in Production and Exports in 2015 ................................... 3 Armenian Cheese Production on the Rise ....................................................................................... 4 Agricultural Loans from Armenian Credit Organizations Up 2.9% in February ............................... 4

Note: The Agriculture Finance Bulletin presents a monthly roundup of headlines and news stories related to investments and financing flows to Armenia’s agricultural sector.

This bulletin is prepared by Business & Finance Consulting—a Swiss-based development finance consulting company with a long history of working in Eastern Europe, Central, South and South East Asia and North Africa. Currently, BFC is implementing the “Financing the Agriculture Sector in Armenia” project for KfW.

BFC Max-Högger-Strasse 6 CH-8048 Zurich, Switzerland

Phone: +41 44 784 22 22 Fax: +41 44 784 23 23

info@bfconsulting.com www.bfconsulting.com

BFC. Agriculture Finance Bulletin.

State Initiatives 1)

Free Irrigation Water for Armenian Farmers

April 22nd, 2016, http://arka.am/en/news/business/armenian_farmers_receive_free_irrigation_water/

The head of the State Water Committee of the Ministry of Agriculture announced that Armenian farmers will be receiving free irrigation water, generated by spring floods. The program, which will provide free irrigation water to 46,000 water users in 121 rural communities, is meant to support farmers in the spring season and will help irrigate nearly 80,000 hectares of land.

2)

Government to Help Sevan Restore Trout Reserves

April 21st, 2016, http://armenpress.am/eng/news/844333/government-adopts-decision-to-restore-sevan-trout-reserves.html

The Government has announced a decision to provide approximately 0.65 hectares near the Kartchaghbyur community for a period of 3 years to Sevan Aqua CJSC for the restoration of the Sevan trout reserves and the development of fish breeding.

3)

Armenian Agriculture Minister Mets with Dutch Ambassador

April 13th, 2016, http://minagro.am/2016/04/%D5%B0%D5%B0%D5%A3%D5%B5%D5%B8%D6%82%D5%B2%D5%A1%D5%BF%D5%B6%D5%BF%D5%A5%D5%BD%D5%B8%D6%82%D5%A9%D 5%B5%D5%A1%D5%B6-%D5%B6%D5%A1%D5%AD%D5%A1%D6%80%D5%A1%D6%80%D5%BD%D5%A5%D6%80%D5%A3%D5%B8-%D5%AF-41/

Armenian Minister of Agriculture Sergo Karapetyan met with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Mr. Johannes Daum. The two discussed joint relations in various projects in the agriculture sector as well as different ways to deepen relations in order to maximize the beneficial effects of bilateral cooperation.

Noting the already successful cooperation between Armenia and the Netherlands in seed production, animal husbandry, and fisheries, Minister Karapetyan also stressed the importance of expanding cooperation into other, new areas such as the poultry sector. Both parties agreed to further exploration of possible ways of cooperation and further development and believe that the Netherlands rich experience in agriculture can and will be extremely useful for Armenia.

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BFC. Agriculture Finance Bulletin.

Private Sector 4)

Armenia’s Apricot Production Estimated between 45,000 and 55,000 Tons

April 25th, 2016, http://arka.am/en/news/economy/armenia_s_apricot_crop_estimated_to_be_between_45_000_and_55_000_tons_this_year/

Armenia’s Ministry of Agriculture has estimated this year’s apricot crop production to be between 45 and 55 thousand tons. The figures may well change due to the natural fall of apricots in May and the potential of trees with now less apricots to produce larger, higher quality fruits.

Frost earlier in the year damaged apricot production, especially in the farms in Armavir and Echmiadzin and some communities in Baghramyan where 50% to 80% of the apricot harvest was lost. An updated estimate is expected in the middle of May.

5)

Only 30% of Poultry Consumed in Armenia is Locally Produced

April 21st, 2016, http://hetq.am/eng/news/67486/only-30-of-poultry-consumed-in-armenia-is-local-price-is-the-key.html/

Last year, 30,950 tons of poultry were imported to Armenia, compared to 13,300 tons that were domestically produced.

Most poultry products are imported from the United States, Brazil and Ukraine, where poultry feed is cheaper, and undercut the prices of domestic poultry products. According to Armenia’s Poultry Growers’ Union, feed is estimated to represent approximately 50% of unit cost in poultry production, and other countries also have government subsidy programs for poultry production, making it difficult for domestic producers to compete, even with higher quality products.

6)

Armenian Alcoholic Beverages Decline in Production and Exports in 2015

April 20th, 2016, http://arka.am/en/news/economy/armenia_s_wine_export_shrinks_31_5_in_2015_to_1_451_600_liters/

Armenia’s production of alcoholic beverages saw a decline in 2015 as compared to 2014. Wine production fell by 4%, brandy production by 9.4%, beer production by 12.8%, and the production of ethyl alcohol below 80%, alcoholic tincture, liqueur, and other spirits declined by 1.1 million liters in 2015. Champagne, however, saw a modest increase of 23,700 liters in production in 2015.

Similarly, exports of alcoholic beverages produces in Armenia fell in 2015. Wine exports shrank by 31.5%, and beer exports were down by 19.3%. Exports to Russia remain as the lion’s share of Armenian alcoholic beverage exports; however, exports to the country were also down — wine exports to Russia fell by over 500,000 liters, and exports of ethyl alcohol below 80% to Russia saw a 1.3 million liter decline.

The National Statistical Service says Armenia’s exports totaled USD 1.5 billion in 2015, a 3.9% overall decline.

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BFC. Agriculture Finance Bulletin.

7)

Armenian Cheese Production on the Rise

April 16th, 2016, http://www.panorama.am/en/news/2016/04/16/Cheese-production/1564044

National Statistics Service data shows that 1,989.8 tons of cheese were produced in Armenia during January and February of this year, a 2.1% increase of the same period last year. Milk and sour cream production levels also both increased by 0.7% as compared to 2015 (57.1million liters and 977.1 tons, respectively). Curd cheese and yogurt production fell during the same period by 0.8 and 0.3%, respectively.

8)

Agricultural Loans from Armenian Credit Organizations Up 2.9% in February

April 14th, 2016, http://arka.am/en/news/economy/armenian_credit_organizations_provided_55_4_billion_drams_worth_agricultural_loans_in _february/

Armenian credit organizations provided AMD 55.4 billion worth of agricultural loans in February, an increase of 2.9% from January. Of that amount, AMD 24.3 billion (up from AMD 23.5 billion in January) was provided to crop growing farmers, and AMD 26.7 billion (up from AMD 26.2 billion in January) was channeled into livestock farming.

An additional AMD 22.3 billion worth of loans were provided to the trade sector, a 0.3% decrease from January, and lending to manufacturing enterprises by credit organizations fell by 2.1% from January to AMD 13.2 billion.

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Prepared by Business & Finance Consulting (BFC) www.bfconsulting.com In this bulletin, BFC provides extracts from articles that have been published by others and as a result cannot be held responsible for such content.

The articles do not necessarily reflect the opinions of BFC, its staff, its associates or its partners.

Copyright of articles is retained by their authors.