Most of Us Have a Bad Credit History, No Loans Given: A Farmer to Pashinyan

Farmers are in need of financing, most of them have a bad credit history, and banks refuse to grant loans. This was stated by farmers during Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's visit to the community of Verin Dvin in the Ararat region on May 23. All the farmers, by the way, were wearing masks.

“We saw on television that if we unite as 4-5 farmers, we can take a loan. Now, we have united as 4-5 farmers with 10-12 hectares of land, but again, banks are rejecting us. Firstly, they require guarantees, and we have no guarantees. Is it possible that the community council could provide that guarantee, which would be valid for the bank?” one of the farmers said.

Another farmer noted that he is setting up a thousand-meter greenhouse but is not given a loan to buy seeds. “In the fall, I took out a loan of 5 million drams to buy adjoining lands, I am paying off the loan, but now I want 150 thousand drams, and they won't give it to me, saying it's overloaded. We are told we can process 4 applications a day, forget about subsidized loans for four months, there’s no zero percent, they won’t give it at even 5 percent.”

Economy Minister Tigran Khachatryan clarified that under the current program, the government covers part of the loan for which no collateral is required, which can be up to 75 percent, while the remaining 25 percent must be secured with collateral presented to the bank.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan also mentioned that they are currently discussing an option for banks to accept land as collateral. “But that’s still a preliminary story. I’m not saying it will be exactly that way.”

Deputy Economy Minister Arman Khojoyan introduced what needs to be done to obtain loans through these programs: “We have 11 program loans that include establishing intensive orchards, livestock farming, and smart farms. We have tried to close the chain. The first step is to create a cooperative, the second step is to apply to the Ministry of Economy, where the president of the cooperative participates in training, after which you apply to the bank with a certificate.”