Yerevan Brandy Company to cut grape procurement by 10 percent

YEREVAN, June 15, /ARKA/. The French –owned Yerevan Brandy Company (YBC) said it will cut grape procurement this year by 10 percent. Speaking at a news conference YBC CEO Ara Grigoryan said the company will buy only 29,000 tons of grape, by 10 percent less than last year. He said the decision to cut procurement was prompted by sales reduction and absence of facilities and tare to preserve the drink.

‘Twenty-nine thousand tons of grapes is the maximum that we can afford buying this year,’ he said, adding that this amount is even bigger than the plant needs now but the company buys this much to help wine-growers.

Ara Grigoryan said also the company had to buy additional tanks in Georgia able to hold 500,000 liters of brandy after sales in the first five months of the year slashed by 26 percent. He said the company plans to cut procurements by 22% but will sign 300 first time contracts with farmers whose vineyards will yield the first crop this year.

‘This will allow to distribute the planned amount of procurement among farmers and preserve the number of farmers cooperating with the company for years,’ he said.

In his words, the procurement price will be announced in September, but he said it is not going to be less than last year’s price of 120-130 Drams per one kilogram. ($1- 374.14 Drams). -0-