YEREVAN, May 4. /ARKA/. Armenia’s deputy minister of agriculture Robert Makaryan, the acting director of a government office for implementation of rural development programs Vahe Harutyunyan and ACBA Leasing CEO Arsem Bazikyan signed today a memorandum on cooperation to carry out a government-subsidized program to finance leasing of agricultural machinery, the ministry of agriculture said in a press release.
Robert Makaryan was quoted as saying that negotiations are underway with other organizations as well in order to increase the number of financial structures involved in the program. “The market is open, and the more suppliers and financial structures we have, the more affordable the acquisition of machinery by farmers and cooperatives will become,” he said.
Bazikyan, in turn, stressed that the memorandum will allow farmers to purchase agricultural machinery and equipment under unprecedented terms and will become a basis for them to expand their businesses.
“From tomorrow farmers will be able to contact us and we will try to respond as quickly as possible to their applications,” he added. According to Vahe Harutyunyan, the demand for agricultural machinery is great.
As part of the program, farmers can purchase tractors, grain harvesters, threshers, plows, mowers, cultivators, cutters, sprayers and other machinery.
The agricultural machinery can be purchased on an advance payment of 20% and at a 2% annual leasing rate with a maturity period of 3-10 years, depending on the type of machinery.
ACBA Leasing CJSC was founded in 2003. It is the first specialized leasing organization in Armenia. The company is an absolute leader in the market, and one of the initiators of legislative changes in this area. The main shareholders of ACBA Leasing are ACBA-CREDIT AGRICOLE BANK – 54% and Сredit Agricole Leasing & Factoring – 38%. -0-
