Armenia's Economic Pulse

[Haykakan]

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Home / Armenia / Armenia’s Government Will Receive Grants Worth $65 Million in Coming Year
December 13, 2016 | 14:57

Armenia’s Government Will Receive Grants Worth $65 Million in Coming Year

According to the Draft State Budget for the year 2017, the RA Government envisages to receive grants in the amount of around 31 billion AMD (about 65 million USD) from foreign countries and international organizations. This number is less than that of 2016 by 500 million AMD and makes up about 2.6% of state budget revenues, according to a statement issued by the Union of Informed Citizens NGO today.
Read the statement below:
– The figure given below shows the dynamics of change in the amount of foreign grants received by the state during the recent years. As it can be seen from the figure, the amount of foreign grants has generally tended to increase after 2013.

As was the case with 2016, the coming year will also see the EU structures and EU member countries as Armenia’s major donors. Moreover, the EU countries are the only ones that provide general budget assistance reaching 9,2 billion AMD to Armenia within the framework of the European Neighborhood Policy. This assistance is not related to jointly implemented projects and is a direct financial assistance to Armenia aimed at improving the countries democracy indicators. However, it is worth noting that the amount of assistance has decreased by 3.8 billion AMD compared to the previous year, which can be related to decline in Armenia’s democracy index.
In 2017, it is also envisaged to receive targeted support reaching 21.8 billion AMD. This group of financial assistance includes the official grants connected to jointly implemented projects. The amount of envisaged targeted grants for 2017 exceeds that of the current year by 4.6 billion AMD. Here again, the major donor is the European Union, which envisages to provide 8.7 billion AMD within the framework of grant programs implemented with EU assistance. This amount exceeds that of the previous year by 4.3 billion AMD.
Below we present the main grant packages within the framework of the 2017 jointly implemented projects (they do not include departmental program grants, as well as foreign equipment and assistance provided to the state agencies):
It is envisaged to receive 1.6 billion AMD within the framework of the project for extension of design period of N2 Unit of the Armenian NPP implemented with the assistance of the Russian Federation. Hence, Armenia will receive 2.3 billion AMD less assistance from Russia compared to 2016.
It is envisaged to receive 2.2 billion AMD within the framework of the grant programs implemented with the assistance of the Development Bank of the Federal Republic of Germany. The amount has decreased by 1.4 billion AMD compared to last year.
It is envisaged to receive 3 billion AMD within the framework of grant programs implemented with World Bank’s support. The amount is less than that of the previous year by 400 million AMD.
It is envisaged to receive 1 billion AMD from the European Investment Bank within the framework of North-South Road Corridor Project (Tranche 3), which is less than that of last year by 200 million AMD.
It is envisaged to receive 800 million AMD within the framework of a rural capacity-building grant program implemented with the assistance of the Kingdom of Denmark. This amount is less than that of last year by 100 million AMD.
It is envisaged to receive 800 million AMD within the framework other grant programs.
In contrast to last year, Armenia will receive additional 2.3 billion AMD from the Global Fund within the framework of grant programs on “Strengthening the Fight against HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis”. It will also receive 1.5 billion AMD within the framework of grant programs implement with the assistance of Eastern Europe Energy Efficiency and Environment Partnership Fund.
Note that numerous foreign donors (USA, UN, Council of Europe, OSCE, etc.) are not in this list because they prefer provision of equipment or direct assistance (for instance, educational) to giving money to Armenian state bodies (to avoid corruption risks).

[Haykakan]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

Iran Khodro Automaker company (IKCO) has opened a branch in Armenia aiming to introduce the Iranian brand to the neighboring country,xMehr News Agencyxreports.x
The inauguration ceremony for IKCO’s branch in the Armenian capital of Yerevan was attended by a number of Armenian and Iranian officils. During the event, several Iran Khodro products, including Rana, Soren and Arisan pickup truck, were shown to reporters and visitors as well as Dena automobile which was unveiled as a new product for the Armenian market.
Reza Nafezi, owner of IKCO branch in Yerevan, stated that “the construction process for the bureau kicked off almost one year ago in a field with an area of 1500 square meters and the project was accomplished today.”
“The office had begun operation with 10 employees four of which have gone through necessary training in the Iranian company,” highlighted the official noting that the center would provide services to 20 automobiles per day.
Nafezi believed that products of IKCO had to compete with the world’s modern cars available in Armenia’s market; “the key to success in gaining a larger share of the market is to offer perfect and extensive after-sale services and supply high quality parts.”
“Presently, a total of 3000 Samand and 2200 Peugeot 206 automobiles are commuting in Yerevan though Armenians are also willing to purchase Dena and Arisan pickup truck,” stressed the official expressing hope that the branch would be a good representative of IKCO products in neighboring countries by offering excellent sales services.

http://en.mehrnews.com/news/122077/IKCO-opens-branch-in-Armenia

http://www.armradio.am/en/2016/12/19/iranian-khodro-automaker-company-opens-branch-in-armenia/

[Haykakan]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

Hayastan Fund builds buckwheat factory in Bavra
16:12, 20 Dec 2016
Siranush Ghazanchyan


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With the financial support of the Devecyan, Ekserciyan families and Krikor Simsiroglu of Argentina, the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund is building a buckwheat-processing factory in Bavra, a village in Armenia’s Shirak Region. The project is being implemented in partnership with the European Neighborhood Program for Agriculture and Rural Development (ENPARD), through the latter’s buckwheat-cultivation program. Launched in Armenia in 2015, the program provides local farmers with agricultural equipment as well as training. Armenia’s first buckwheat-processing factory was opened on December 6 in the village of Tsovagyugh, with the support of ENPARD.
Bavra’s buckwheat factory will be housed in a former agricultural building. To date, crews have renovated the structure’s walls, ceilings, and floors, and installed a new roof as well as new windows, and gates. In addition, ENPARD is connecting the building to the power grid. The next phase of the project will include the installation of electrical, plumbing, heating, air-conditioning, and gas systems, exterior and interior decoration, and the construction of an adjacent lab. The project is slated to be completed by the summer of 2017.
Koryun Sumbulyan, the future factory’s manager, says that it will serve cooperatives of close to 430 farmers throughout the regions of Shirak, Lori, and Aragatsotn. “Buckwheat production is a new development in Armenia,” Sumbulyan says. “Our climate is ideal for growing this crop, and already we have reaped our first harvest. I think within a few years we will be able to produce up to 9,000 tons of buckwheat annually at our factory, thereby meeting local demand at affordable prices.”
Bavra is the gateway to Northern Armenia. In the past three years, the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund has built a community center, a playground, and a sports field in the village, all through the sponsorship of the Devecyan family.

http://www.armradio.am/en/2016/12/20/hayastan-fund-builds-buckwheat-factory-in-bavra/

[Zeytun]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

2016: Million-dollar investments in Armenian IT companies
http://www.itel.am/en/news/8703

In 2016 a number of Armenian IT companies successfully attracted large investments from foreign venture foundations and individuals.
Itel.am presents 4 Armenian companies that received more than USD 1 million investments this year. We selected the companies that have an office or team in Armenia even if they operate abroad.

1. PicsArt – USD 20 million

In April PicsArt announced a USD 20 million funding from DCM Ventures and Siguler Guff & Company. PicsArt allocated the sum to developing its activity in China and Japan.
In September the company stated over 80 million monthly active users and presented an updated iOS version of the app of that occasion.

2. CodeFights - USD 10 million

In November the company founder and CEO Tigran Aloyan announced a USD 10 million investment, noting that Series A round was led by e.ventures. Other participants of the round were SV Angel, Felicis Ventures, A Capital and Granatus Ventures.
CodeFights, which helps test and improve coding skills through a game, will allocate the investment to scale its engineering, operational and sales teams.
It is noteworthy that the company’s user base grew 10 times since the USD 2.4 million seed funding round in April 2015.

3. NewsDeeply - USD 2.5 million

This year the startup founded by Lara Sedrakian completed the USD 2.5 million seed funding round, launched in 2015. Fresco Capital, Granatus Ventures, HIVE and Omidyar Network were among the investors.
News Deeply is a platform that collects data on specific topics, which is later used by large media companies and media outlets. You can read Itel.am’s interview with Lara Sedrakian here.

4. SoloLearn - USD 1.2 million

The largest mobile app teaching coding – SoloLearn – announced raising USD 1.2 million seed round in October.
The investment was made by Silicon Valley based VC Learn Capital, as well as private investors who invested in SoloLearn before.
As for now, the platform has around 10 million users. Refugees who want to learn coding began using the app in high numbers.

Narine Daneghyan

[Serjik]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

Will be in armenia for the new year visiting family, hope to visit the tumo center.

[Haykakan]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

I wonder if any of these companies would be interested in educational gaming development? I would like to work with an Armenian company if possible to develop such applications.

[londontsi]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

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Հայաստանում 35 մլն դոլարի ներդրում կատարած ընկերությունը 7 ամիս է չի գործում

[HyeSocialist]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

I wonder if any of these companies would be interested in educational gaming development? I would like to work with an Armenian company if possible to develop such applications.

So, I picked up this book called "How Asia Works." It's pretty much discussing why countries like South Korea and Taiwan (along with Japan) industrializing rapidly while countries like Malaysia and the Philippines are stuck.

So, to save you gentlemen the hassle (but I do recommend it thoroughly) I will give a run down on how the tigers became the tigers.
- Small Farms
- Export Oriented Economy
- Finance directly to the first two

First, the Japanese, Koreans, and Taiwanese limited the maximum size of a farm to 3 hectares. This allowed more people to be farmers, to grow from the land more intensely, and provide the greatest amount of labor output for a newly starting country. Spoiler alert, after some time, the policy does need to change in order to let some farms consolidate, but it is absolutely important that the phase starts off with small 3 hectare farms.

Second, export oriented economy. In Korea, Japan, and Taiwan, cheap credit and incentives like cheap utilities were all provided only to export oriented companies. What this did was create institutions like Hyundai and Acer because they were able to absorb knowledge and provide it on a global stage. Export products have to be successful and tying credit to these companies means that the MARKET decides who is actually doing something correctly.

Third, finance tied to the first two. I haven't gotten here yet. I'll post more later.

This is bringing me wonder... What are our most export oriented companies in Armenia? services as well. What is it that Armenia can export better than anyone else? Jewelry? Spirits? What can we manufacture that can compete on the world scale? It can be big like tractors or small like microchips.

[Artashes]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

So, I picked up this book called "How Asia Works." It's pretty much discussing why countries like South Korea and Taiwan (along with Japan) industrializing rapidly while countries like Malaysia and the Philippines are stuck.

So, to save you gentlemen the hassle (but I do recommend it thoroughly) I will give a run down on how the tigers became the tigers.
- Small Farms
- Export Oriented Economy
- Finance directly to the first two

First, the Japanese, Koreans, and Taiwanese limited the maximum size of a farm to 3 hectares. This allowed more people to be farmers, to grow from the land more intensely, and provide the greatest amount of labor output for a newly starting country. Spoiler alert, after some time, the policy does need to change in order to let some farms consolidate, but it is absolutely important that the phase starts off with small 3 hectare farms.

Second, export oriented economy. In Korea, Japan, and Taiwan, cheap credit and incentives like cheap utilities were all provided only to export oriented companies. What this did was create institutions like Hyundai and Acer because they were able to absorb knowledge and provide it on a global stage. Export products have to be successful and tying credit to these companies means that the MARKET decides who is actually doing something correctly.

Third, finance tied to the first two. I haven't gotten here yet. I'll post more later.

This is bringing me wonder... What are our most export oriented companies in Armenia? services as well. What is it that Armenia can export better than anyone else? Jewelry? Spirits? What can we manufacture that can compete on the world scale? It can be big like tractors or small like microchips.

--- small farms --- and financed by govt !!
Really good point.
Profit in USA is directly tied to making more money than invested. (But) that is only one way to discribe "profit". It is the exclusive description used by USA/west/money mongers. However, if one includes the ordinary citizens and connects that to the overall health of the country, then including everyone is highly profitable.
The rich, and mega rich have nothing but contempt for true profit that benefits all.
Very good point.

[HyeSocialist]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

--- small farms --- and financed by govt !!
Really good point.
Profit in USA is directly tied to making more money than invested. (But) that is only one way to discribe "profit". It is the exclusive description used by USA/west/money mongers. However, if one includes the ordinary citizens and connects that to the overall health of the country, then including everyone is highly profitable.
The rich, and mega rich have nothing but contempt for true profit that benefits all.
Very good point.

That's where he was going with this too. The idea of small farms was that there were more people with more savings. This not only created enough savings in banking systems that allowed them to finance the export oriented manufacturing center, but all of those farmers were essentially middle class and living better than most folks in the city. This led the farmers to have sons and daughters they could send to school. In fact, most of the politicians that defined Korean, Japanese, and Taiwanese economic growth were son's of farmers! That could potentially be a good export industry too, processed foods (a type of manufacturing) and advanced agricultural equipment like greenhouses and robotics to help out farmers!