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The Armenian government has addressed issues of foot supply chain and food safety on number of occasions, and studies have revealed that the country has a high level of self-sufficiency in food supply, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated on Tuesday at the Q/A session with parliamentarians.

Asked by MP Sergey Bagratyan to comment on the situation around the food needs of the country and the ongoing activities to ensure food safety, Pashinyan noted that the only exception in terms of sufficiency is the wheat reserve.

“Expert discussions revealed that spring wheat is not efficient in Armenia, and consequently, we would focus on the wheat planted in Autumn,” the PM said.

At a remark that banks may not provide higher loans for agricultural purposes and may need the state to stand as a guarantor, Pashinyan reminded that the banks currently provide loans at a zero percent interest rate and the total number of funding of agricultural lands has stood at 1.4 billion AMD thus far/ “I am not happy with the ongoing pace and considering all the risks the banks may face we will try to address the matter in a different way. We will try to increase the co-financing component for the state not to buy the wheat but through subsidizing 10-30% of the loans. That is to say the state will share the risks of the bank. What regards to wheat, the first option can be used as we may face difficulty of forming strategic grain reserve,” said the PM.