PM Pashinyan inquires on hailstorm damages in Armavir province

YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan began his first Cabinet meeting in the new capacity with a briefing on consequences of a hailstorm in the province of Armavir.

Acting minister of agriculture Ignati Arakelyan briefed that experts have been dispatched to the area to assess the situation.

“Estimates suggest the damages aren’t big, but there are gardens which have been damaged”, he said, adding that damages are being evaluated.

The Prime Minister asked on further steps after the evaluation. “Previously the government was mostly enabled to [cancel] water tariff payments, land tax, sometimes the payment for seeds, any obligation towards the state, as far as I know anything more hasn’t been provided”, Arakelyan responded.

“We will definitely address this subject, but we must make the assistance not simply a formality, but effectively, in order for the people to really feel that the state is making serious efforts for them to recover from that situation”, the Prime Minister said.

PM Pashinyan inquired why it wasn’t possible to prevent the hailstorm through the anti-hail stations, and generally how much of a total agricultural lands are covered by the stations.

Acting minister of emergency situations David Tonoyan said the affected areas have been out of the limits of the station’s coverage. “We are now able to cover 15% of agricultural lands. A pilot program was implemented, which has several problems, and these problems will be solved with the help of experts who will arrive from Russia. A new system is being introduced”, Tonoyan said.

Tonoyan said the system is expected to cover 70% of lands.

The Prime Minister said this issue will be addressed after the new government is formed.

ENGLISH: Editor/Translator -Stepan Kocharyan