There are fewer farmers in the border villages of Armenia, but the state, nevertheless, will continue to provide them with full support, said the Armenian Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures Suren Papikyan at a joint meeting of the standing parliamentary commissions during the preliminary discussion of the draft state budget for 2020.

According to him, AMD 800 million will be allocated for this purpose instead of the current AMD 929 million. At the same time, as before, residents of border villages and enterprises operating there will receive 50% compensation for payments for gas, electricity and irrigation water.

The reduction in state support, according to the Minister, is due only to a decrease in the number of inhabitants of these villages. 

“About 37 villages located directly on the border with Azerbaijan receive support. A little more than 50 thousand people live there. For those families that have electricity but no gas, they compensate for the extra kilowatt hours corresponding to the consumption of 180 cubic meters of gas,” he said.

According to him, the authorities will continue to fully compensate taxes on land and property for farmers who have gardens and fields in the zone of probable shelling.