At Thursday’s Cabinet session, the government of Armenia approved the State Assistance Program for Implementation of a Pilot Insurance System in Agriculture.

The issue was presented by Minister of Economy Tigran Khachatryan, noting that since early October, insurance policies have been sold in 6 provinces—Ararat, Armavir, Aragatsotn, Kotayk, Vayots Dzor, and Tavush—due to hail, and in two provinces—Ararat and Armavir—due to early spring frost.

"With the support of KfW Bank, we subsidize half of those premiums - 50-60 percent,” he said. “This decision is about how we should transfer this subsidized amount to the insurance companies.”

Referring to the issue, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that until now, if there was a disaster, the hail would damage the crop, the state would compensate for a small part of the loss, but now in case of insurance policies, the state would pay 50-60% of the damage.

"That's why we envision funds in the budget," he added. “In other words, we tell the villagers, ‘Insure your land so that when the hail comes, you will not receive 30,000 drams, but 500,000-600,000 drams.’"