The season of storing grapes has started already and the brandy, wine and champagne producers one by one announce how much raw material they are going to accept this year. The first one is as always the Brandy Factory of Yerevan (BFY), which has started storing since September 15 and is planning to buy 28.000 tons of grapes. This year the BFY is going to store at 133 AMD per kilo of grapes, instead of the 130 AMD per kilo in 2006. The second place occupies the “The brandy, vodka and wine factory of Ararat” in Yerevan. According to the General Director of the factory Sedrak Arustamyan the factory is going to store 20.000 tons of grapes at 135 AMD per kilo this year. They are going to start storing from September 20. The company is going to increase the amount of storage, production and exportation year by year. Noy Brandy of the factory is already being exported to 18 countries of the world. Only 3% of the overall production is consumed in Armenia. If during the first 9 months of 2006 the company has exported 930.000 liters of brandy than this year during the same period the company exported 2 million 358 thousand liters. The Champagne/Wine Factory of Armenia is going to reduce its production rates and exportation. The reason is the AMD revaluation. The management of the factory doesn’t yet know how much they are going to store this year but are sure that they are not going to export. Due to AMD revaluation the exportation becomes unprofitable and the net price of the product is increasing. This factory is going to produce only as much as necessary for the Armenian market. According to the head of the Plant cultivation and Plant Protection Department of the RA Ministry of Agriculture, Garnik Petrosyan about half of the produced grapes are going to be stored this year, about 120.000 tons compared to the last year – 100.000 tons. This year about 220.000 tons of grapes crop is anticipated, which is 20.000 tons more than last year.
