Epress.am News from Armenia
Several dozen grape farmers from Kaghtsrashen, a village in Armenia's Ararat province, gathered outside the ministry of agriculture in Yerevan on Thursday and demanded a meeting with minister Ignati Arakelyan after the latter failed to carry out his promise to ensure that the vine-growers are paid for the produce purchased by the local Vinar winery last fall.
The farmers had to sell their grapes to Vinar for as little as 40 drams per kilogram after an unusually rich harvest in the fall of 2015. The company, however, has yet to fully pay their money, and after the farmers' continued protests, agriculture minister Arakelyan assured them last month that they would be paid by November 1.
“He didn't even stop to talk to us [today]. He came out of the building and told us to wait some more as there was a new buyer from Russia interested in Vinar's wine that was currently testing their product; then he got into his nice car and left. So we've no idea when or if Vinar's wine will be bought and when we'll finally be paid our money,” protester Hamlet Azizyan told Epress.am.
“There's no other way: we'll have to resort to extreme measures, block a highway, I don't know. We hope, at least, that the prime minister responds to our appeals,” farmer Gevorg Harutyunyan said, adding that prior to their protest in front of the agriculture ministry, the villagers had submitted an appeal letter to the government office.