The Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan had a working visit to Syunik province on January 18-19, 2021. The purpose of the visit was to get acquainted with the economic situation of Syunik and discuss possibilities of cooperation․ “The population and businesses of Syunik are facing new challenges. It is natural that as the Minister of Economy I should have studied the situation and tried to understand as to what we, the Ministry, can do to help overcome the consequences of the war and maintain the resilience of the province” said Vahan Kerobyan.
Together with Syunik Governor Melikset Poghosyan and Deputy Minister of Economy Arman Khojoyan, the Minister visited “Meghri” free economic zone, the dried fruits and purveyance center of Meghri, Agarak copper-molybdenum combine CJSC, and the cannery of Meghri.

Vahan Kerobyan inquired in detail about the activities and problems of the organizations and expressed readiness to provide possible assistance when needed. The Minister considered the operation of “Meghri” free economic zone as a priority issue requiring immediate solution. He expressed hope that changes will be visible there in the near future.

At Syunik Marzpetaran the economic problems of the province, including agricultural ones, were discussed with Syunik Governor Melikset Poghosyan and the responsible employees of the provincial administration: irrigation water, construction of barns, provision of fodder base, recovery and reopening of bankrupt companies and many other issues.

Vahan Kerobyan noted that last year the majority of the state support programs in the field of agriculture were in high demand and efforts should be made to continue them and have new, more targeted and better programs to increase the efficiency of agriculture. “The axis of our policy should be creation of high-productivity enterprises, as large as possible, and it is necessary to increase the attractiveness of the large-scale agriculture. Obviously, not many people can be engaged in such agriculture, and we must create many other non-agricultural jobs so that people are not forced to engage in small-scale agriculture”, said the Minister of Economy.

Taking into account the start of the agricultural season, it was decided to collect proposals from all communities in a very short period of time and understand what needs to be done for the Ministry to take appropriate actions.

Accompanied by Deputy Minister Arman Khojoyan, Vahan Kerobyan met with the head of Kapan community Gevorg Parsyan, the owner of “Goris” hotel Senik Julhakyan, visited “Lamax Group” dairy and meat production LLC farming enterprise, “Syunik food" company.

During all meetings the accumulated problems and possibilities of support by the Ministry of Economy for their solution were discussed. The Minister stressed that obstacles should be eliminated from the businessmen’s pathways, noting that the communities should perceive the businessmen as investors and work with them.