Epress.am News from Armenia
The increase in the price of natural gas may be crucial for the existence of greenhouses in Armenia, Greenhouse Association President Poghos Gevorgyan informed members of the media in Yerevan today. This year's winter planting of tomato seeds for the spring was less than 12 hectares.
"The greenhouse in Sevan and Echmiadzin's Aghavnaran greenhouse are already closed. Greenhouse owners say it's better to have a farm run on solar energy, earn 100 dram, than get millions but give it to Gazprom and not make a profit," explains Gevorgyan. Journalists reminded him that the government has accepted the concept of greenhouse farms, but, according to Gevorgyan, this doesn't solve anything.
"It would've been better if that concept wasn't adopted. None of the issues we raised was included in the concept," he said.
Note, greenhouse owners were offered special gas prices: that is, cheaper prices ($276) but only if consumption exceeds not 10,000 but 5,000 cubic meters per month. In order to use less gas, the Armenian government advised greenhouse farmers to buy the latest technology, but it refused to annul the high taxes on imports of such technology. Greenhouse owners also requested the government allow them to pay off their gas debt in the spring, after they sell their harvest. This request was also rejected.
"We no longer pin our hopes on either Gazprom or the Government of the Republic of Armenia. We would like and are searching for alternative energy sources. We need to bring ArmRosGazprom to bankruptcy, so they will ask us to buy gas from them," says Gevorgyan.
In the Greenhouse Association president's opinion, the government does nothing for the development of greenhouse agriculture, doesn't contribute to solving the energy problem, and does not encourage investment. Thus, investors, not getting any guarantees from the Armenian state, open their businesses in neighboring Georgia.