Yerevan/Mediamax/. Armenian government made a decision today to provide the Ministry of Agriculture with USD 450 thousand within the framework of the loan program of the World Bank (WB) for realization of a pilot program in 5 regions of the country.

The total cost of WB project “Management and Competitiveness of Agricultural Resources of Armenian Regions” makes USD 23mln and provides for realization of the program in 55 regions of the country.

As Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsian stated at the session of the government today, “in 55 regions of the country serious reforms will be realized. They will be directed at improving the state of insecure rural families by means of development of agricultural resources, construction of roads, exploitation of unused  pastures, cold storage, milk processing points”, Tigran Sargsian stated.

According to him, in case of success, the Armenian government will turn to the World Bank with the suggestion to allocate additional means for expanding the list of the regions.

Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsian stated that in 2011 the government intends to provide for 10 percent increase in agricultural sphere.

“As a social package, the government will provide farmers with 2000 tons of seeds free of charge. The Ministry of Agriculture has singled out the economies, which need support and we will provide them with high quality seeds, imported from Russia and Ukraine”, Tigran Sargsian stated.

According to him, aid will be provided to approximately 14 thousand economies.