The SATM partners are also conducting a very thorough examination at the border at my request, to ensure that only absolutely high-quality products leave Armenia. Gevorg Papoyan
24-09-2026 15:23 Armenia Economy
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1lurer.am The volumes of mixed exported agricultural products from last year and this year are somewhat comparable, with a 5 percent difference. This was stated by Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan during a government meeting.
«We have sectors where we have growth, and sectors where we have declines, but these declines cannot solely be attributed to the fact that there are restrictions. For example, last year we exported more than 40 thousand tons of apricots, this year we exported 12-13 thousand tons, but the issue is that there were no apricots, meaning we exported as much as we had. If there had been, for instance, 30 thousand tons of apricots, I believe that 30 thousand would have been exported as well. Weather and climatic conditions have also had an impact,» said Minister of Economy Gevorg Papoyan.
«There are sectors where we have growth. The export of fruit and vegetable preserves has increased by 18 percent. The export of dried vegetables has increased by 64 percent. The export of Armenian brandy has increased by 10 percent, and the export of animals has increased by 21 percent. There are sectors where there is a decline, for example, in the case of flowers, we have a decline, but I will also present the compensation figure, which is approximately 4.6 billion drams. Mainly, what have we exported in return for that?»
Among the major sectors, tomatoes stand out with about 3000 tons, we exported more than 2200 tons of peppers, 3.9 million flowers, peaches over 2200 tons, bottled wine 292,000 liters, bottled fruit and berry wine 336,000 liters, Armenian brandy 837,000 liters, but calculated as 100 percent alcohol, and so on.
It is also thanks to our programs that these exports are taking place. It is thanks to our programs that Armenian products are starting to position themselves in new markets, including the European market and the Middle Eastern markets. It's not easy; we need to support them for some time so that they can gain recognition and trust there, and so on,» said Papoyan.
He emphasized that in the coming months, they need to pursue more long-term and strategic solutions. «At the same time, we have constantly been doing those exercises, making adjustments, in some cases lowering the amount of compensation, and in some cases increasing it, because we have understood that, firstly, if it is a product of strategic importance for us, and a fairly good infrastructure has been created here, and there is potential for sales, but at the same time, we have felt that the volume of compensation may not be sufficient, we have increased it. In the case of deeper market studies, we have seen that there is an opportunity to lower it.»
And at the same time, it is also important that the partners of the State Service for Food Safety are conducting very thorough inspections at the border at my request, so that only absolutely high-quality products leave the Republic of Armenia. It is very important that we are confident that the products that leave the Republic of Armenia are of high quality and will have demand in external markets. We have cases where we simply send those products back; we do not even agree to leave them without compensation because this is already a matter of the country's reputation,» said the Minister of Economy.
Regarding the procurement, Papoyan said, «81 tons of figs have been procured and 5200 tons of peaches have been procured. This year the harvest is abundant; I have visited twice, and there are quite large volumes—dozens of trucks are lined up, peaches are being procured, and it is good that all organizations note that this is a good opportunity for them.»
In the case of grapes, we exported 120 tons of grapes last month. The majority are technical varieties, and they are conducting procurements. I was at a factory yesterday that had already procured about 5000 tons and was preparing to procure another 16 thousand tons. This means that this year that factory will procure 21 thousand tons.
I will also make periodic visits to other factories to familiarize myself with the situation. At this moment, the grape procurement process is proceeding in full volume,» he said.
* This text was automatically translated by Artificial Intelligence (AI).
