Armenia has already built 58 “smart” barns for over 900 million drams: authorities are expanding the assistance program

YEREVAN, April 11. /ARKA/. Armenia has already built 58 “smart” barns at a cost of 925 million drams, Deputy Minister of Economy Arman Khojoyan said Thursday as he presented the revised terms of the livestock support program, which includes the construction of “smart” barns and the development of pedigree cattle breeding.

“In particular, the estimated construction costs have been reassessed, resulting in an increase in both the investment threshold and the government’s compensation share,” Khojoyan noted.

He explained that while previously it cost 35 million drams to build a barn for 40–45 head of cattle, the current estimate is 46 million drams.

“Farmers can now receive 50% of that amount back as compensation — that is, 23 million drams instead of the previous 17.5 million drams,” the deputy minister said.

Khojoyan also noted that preferential conditions have been defined for border settlements, cooperatives, and certain social groups.

“For these groups, compensation will cover 70% of the costs. The compensation rate for reconstruction is set at 25%, and 45% for border settlements,” Khojoyan said.

The deputy minister added that the program includes both compensation and credit components. Under the credit component, the government subsidizes 10 percentage points of the interest rate on attracted loans. In addition, the grace period has been extended from 12 to 18 months.

“If a beneficiary participates in the ‘smart barn’ program, they are eligible for compensation. For up to 25 head of cattle, the compensation is 30%, and for 25 or more, it's 40%,” Khojoyan stated.

He emphasized that a mandatory condition for both program components is that the beneficiaries must be legal entities. Since the program's launch, 413 farmers have applied for barn construction, and 103 have signed contracts with the Ministry of Economy, he added.

($1 = 391.08 drams)