Epress.am News from Armenia
Grape farmers from the village of Kaghtrashen in Armenia’s Ararat province – who after an unusually rich harvest in the fall of 2015 had to sell their grapes to the local Vinar winery for as little as 40 drams per kilogram – are still waiting on full payment from the winery. Speaking to Epress.am on Wednesday, winegrower Gevorg Harutyunyan said a small part of the debt was paid to some of the farmers last December; Harutyunyan himself, along with several other large debt holders, however, has yet to receive payment.
“They gave some money to a few of the farmers sometime before the new year; mainly to those who are not owed that much. I, on the other hand, haven’t been paid anything since I sold them my grapes in 2015,” Harutyunyan added.
According to the farmer, the villagers have been trying for nearly a month to get in touch with agriculture minister Ignati Arakelyan who had previously promised to make sure that the villagers received their money by December 1, 2016. The minister, however, has not answered any of the farmers’ calls.
“They told us to open bank accounts so that they would transfer the money to those. We went ahead and wasted money to open these accounts, but we are still waiting on payment,” Harutyunyan said, adding that the farmers no longer expected anything from the authorities and planned to resort to extreme measures to get their money. “They have promised to transfer some more money by March 2, but we don’t believe them any more. We are waiting for the weather to get warmer to again start blocking roads; otherwise, the issue will never be solved.”