Armenia's Economic Pulse

[UrMistake]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

With all of the other natural problems that Armenia is facing the economic factor is the most concerned one.
Lets put aside the various informations from various sources and start laying facts that our relatives or ourselfs know about this issue in Armenia,lets point the real problems ... of course the genocide issue and turkeys relations is big news but is it enough to shadow the economical problems of Armenia ,cause i have a sense that government puts allot of wight in the other problems that facing the well know ones that are more faceable.

Froots in Armenia some times are more expensive that in Greece, electricity are something less than 100 dollars per month,gas is 100 $ per month..one pensioner in Armenia is getting 70 $ per month thank god that she is renting a house in Armenia or else i dont know what would happen ...

What is our facts lets compare ...
What can we do or demand from our goverment cause if we sent money they will be gone,but if we create our own businesses this is other thing can we diaspora make such move?
Common tactic of businesses in Armenia is to take students with all the necessary diploms giving them a job for a month and then they fire them with excuse that they just dont fit and never pay back to them the money they worked.

[Federate]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

Fishing for Markets: Armenian hatcheries want to go global


A total of 250 small, large and medium-sized fish farms in Armenia have signaled their intention to seek to expand to foreign markets. But the head of the union embracing them says they are meeting difficulties and need state assistance to encompass the task.

Chairman of the Union of Fish-Breeders Arkady Gevorgyan says that 3,000-3,500 tons of fish are produced in the country annually, mainly sturgeon and trout. However, according to him, the potential of fish-breeding farms is much higher, as they can grow some 150,000-300,000 tons of fish a year and ensure an annual amount of trade of between 1.5 billion and 2 billion drams ($4-5.3 million). “But finding sales markets remain a problem,” he acknowledges.

The Union’s chairman says that problems connected with export were presented to the government. According to him, the sphere feels the need of state care. If the amount of trade of 1.5-2 billion ($4-5.3 million) is achieved, then 400 million drams (more than $1 million) will enter the state budget, stresses Gevorgyan.

“So that it doesn’t sound like empty words, I will say that from one square meter we can get 10 kilograms of fish, and if we seriously upgrade our technologies, we will increase our possibilities to up to 80 kg of fish [per sq. m.],” he says.

While being a mountainous, landlocked country, Armenia still enjoys favorable conditions for the development of fish breeding. Fish hatcheries are located in the Ararat valley, which is rich in high-quality artesian waters.

During the Soviet times Armenia’s fish-breeding industry consisted mainly of carp farms, and trout growing began relatively late. Nearly 8,000 tons of carp and 400 tons of trout were produced annually then. After the collapse of the Soviet state carp farms disappeared. Fish farms initially growing mostly trout came to replace them.

From 1996, fish-breeding farms annually produced 15-20 tons of trout, by 2000 the volumes had been raised to 1,500-1,800 tons. From 1998 the production of sturgeon began.

“We should be able to introduce the latest technologies that will allow us to produce locally what we currently import, moreover we should start exporting it. Sturgeon is exactly that kind of fish, and so is trout. Demand abroad is high for these two fish,” says Gevorgyan.

So far fish farms have mainly marketed their products locally. Only about 5-7 percent of all produced fish in Armenia would go for export, mainly to Russia. But Russia and Ukraine stopped the import of Armenian fish in 2009 because of the swine flu outbreak and the economic crisis.

The Union’s chairman says the export to Russia resumed only last month: three batches of fish have already been shipped to Russia this month, 2 tons of product at a time. Another shipment of 2 tons has been made to Georgia. Yellow trout and red-spotted trout are main export items of fish farms - 1 kg of trout at 1,600 drams (about $4), and red-spotted trout at 2,500 drams (about $6).

Nevertheless, Armenia’s fish farmers also want to export fish to European markets and the United States, but acknowledge that food safety standards for access to European markets might be a problem.

“And these standards are quite high. Our country simply cannot comply with it, because we do not have laboratories fitted out with modern equipment,” says Gevorgyan.

He says that demand for Armenian fish exists both in the United States and Canada, but it will be possible to export Armenian fish there only after it is processed – such as smoked, marinated or canned fish.

And director of the Union of Fish-Breeders Artur Atoyan says that banks should have soft loan policies for domestic producers, including fish farmers, who need to borrow for business purposes.

Atoyan says that in the absence of such loans, small and medium-sized businesses simply have to stay afloat and face the prospect of an acquisition by a larger entity, while large companies simply face the prospect of a failure unless they continue to make investments.

“The sphere needs state care and assistance,” says Atoyan.

http://armenianow.com/economy/business/20495/fish_farms_in_armenia

[Haykakan]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

Soft loan policies to domestic producers sounds like a good idea to me. I saw a few fish farms when i was there last and they sure had lots of tasty trout in those pools. I think a investment by the government to help increase market access to local companies will not only be usefull but it will pay for itself very quickly in the form of new tax revanues.

[gegev]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

ARMENAL produced over 20,000 tons of foil

Within a year ARMENAL foil mill produced and sold over 20,000 tons of aluminium foil, nearly twice as much as last year.
In 2009 the mill significantly improved labour efficiency and almost doubled its productivity rate per employee. ARMENAL’s yield ratio, currently exceeding at 70%, stabilised, and the rate of production rejects fell to 3%, which is also the best figure ever achieved by the foil mill, the press release reads.
‘The modernized equipment and the improved professional skills of our staff helped the foil mill achieve good production results this year. Enhancement of the technological processes raised production efficiency and enabled the mill to fully meet its customers’ needs," said Alexander Burdin, Director of RUSAL’s Packaging Division.
….
.

Below find the real situation ArmenAL was in, just two months ago.

ArmenAL – Armenian Aluminum foil factory, promised to increase its employee salaries proportional to the increase of production. During last several years workers managed to increase production more than twice, but salaries still remain unchanged - about $250. The Russian owner of the company confessed (on local TV) that the factory equipment is outdated, nevertheless he declared that workers should “earn” the salary increase.??? And therefore the company eployees are protesting now.

By the way Armenian government owned TV channels showed government members who in past, several times, highly praised the company for the “huge” investments done to ensure high quality of the foil.

Sarcastic???

Russians own most of Armenian large scale companies which are making big profits. And yet they consider that the Armenian workforce doesn’t deserve higher salaries. Because Armenian regime is in pockets of the Russians, it doesn’t/can’t support Armenian employees. The regime supports the wrongdoings of the owners.

By the way the owners are able dumping the foil in market, and yet making profit, even by using their outdated equipment, because they pay employees-nothing.

Please read the following:

http://www.alunet.net/shownews.asp?ID=2636&type=1

The European Union decided Thursday to impose five-year duties on aluminum foil imported from China, Brazil and Armenia over alleged dumping charges.
The EU said in its decision that the duties were up to 30% as a punishment to Chinese exporters for selling the product at below cost, or...

[Haykakan]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

Below find the real situation ArmenAL was in, just two months ago.

Your reference link leads to nowhere. Do you think there would even be a aluminum factory in Armenia today if not for Russia? Those workers may want higher wages but what worker on earth doesn't? That factory provides jobs for our people and if those jobs did not help them they would not be going to work. You consistantly villify Russian everything in regards to Armenia yet they are the only ones who actually do good things for our country. You keep complaining about it all yet never do you give a viable alternative. I wish you would take off your anti-everything glasses and look at reality for a change.

[Tigranakert]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

Gegev, how many American companies have factories in Armenia? I also bet enough factories owned by Armenians are in a worse state than that of ArmenAL. I also know enough Armenians in Russia who own factories, whose ethnic Russian employees also demand higher wages. Amazing isn't it?

[gegev]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

Your reference link leads to nowhere. Do you think there would even be a aluminum factory in Armenia today if not for Russia? Those workers may want higher wages but what worker on earth doesn't? That factory provides jobs for our people and if those jobs did not help them they would not be going to work. You consistantly villify Russian everything in regards to Armenia yet they are the only ones who actually do good things for our country. You keep complaining about it all yet never do you give a viable alternative. I wish you would take off your anti-everything glasses and look at reality for a change.

Sorry but I can’t think about: below subsistence level wages ($250) without the black glasses. By the way EU imposed on ArmenAL 13.4% penalty on dumping charges, if they paid just 1% of it to our employees they wouldn’t go on strike in October 2009.

Here is another link on that: http://www.alunet.net/shownews.asp?ID=2636&type=1

[Tigranakert]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

Gegev, how many American companies have factories in Armenia? Did you know also other factories in Armenia, owned by Armenians, have employees who demand higher wages and feel they are mistreated?

[Muhaha]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

What's the point of bringing American factories into this discussion? Why does every criticism of Russia turn into "Well what's American doing".

[Tigranakert]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

A lot, some people are trying to criticize everything that has to do with Russia.

We must be lucky that Russians see Armenia as an important strategic country, for without them we would not have excisted. We must be happy that Russians are investing in our economy, are paying wages to their employees and are opening factories.

Ofcourse, we can constantly mention negative things, but there are enough Armenian factories where employees ask a higher wage too, therefore we do not have to put an emphasis on the ''Russian'' owners of the highly succesful ArmenAL.