Armenian egg producers facing bankruptcy

31-08-2011 | Home | News

Illegal imports of cheap eggs is killing the Armenian egg producing industry, according to a report by local newspaper with reference to the conflicting data of the Ministry of Agriculture and services of the Customs Union.

The newspaper, 168 hours, quoted Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the Republic Grisha Bagyana, who noted that up to 1 million eggs are imported from the Ukraine into the country every month. At the same time, Customs Services statistics show that illegal egg imports amounted to much more – almost 2.5 million per month.

“Of course, illegal import products are not dissolving into thin air. Cheap imported eggs are sold under the pretense of local products, which results in the fact that a lot of Armenian egg producers fail to match the competition, have a big loss and are forced to phase down production” said representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture of the country.

Official statistics are not available, but according to the Regnum news agency already about 20% of small egg producers in Armenia went bankrupt, and still about 30% are in a serious condition. If the situation does not change any time soon, the major producers of eggs in Armenia will also face imminent problems. Experts are worrying that without government intervention, the entire industry soon could be on the verge of a profound crisis.