Armenia needs $600 million to protect vineyards from phylloxeraNovember 16, 2009 - 16:20 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenia needs $600 million to combat phylloxera and preserve vineyards, Head of wine-makers' Union Avag Harutyunyan told today a news conference in Yerevan. At that he noted that one of vineyards in Armenia is infected with phylloxera, but the process has been at active stage for the past 3-4 years. "To avoid losses Armenia will need $600 million for restoring vineyards, and that will be achieved in 5 years," he said.According to Harutyunyan, Armenia will never have the sum, let alone that 99% of vineyards belong to rural population who don't have enough means. "Thus, Armenia faces the threat of total destruction of vineyards," he added. Phylloxera (Viteus vitifolii) is a greenfly originally native to America. It had no significance there, however, penetrating to Europe it changed its biology, becoming an extremely dangerous vermin. First appearing in France, a country taking pride in its wine making industry, phylloxera caused major harm to its economy. Later, it spread to the east. Over the 30 years of its existence, the vermin has destroyed vineyards with a total area of 6 million hectares. Top stories Yerevan has dismissed Turkey’s demand to shut down the Armenian nuclear power plant as “inappropriate”. Armenia will loan 2.9 billion drams to Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh), according to a draft government decision. The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan has “strongly condemned” Armenia’s decision. Kerobyan has said that for the first time in the history of Armenia, the volume of foreign direct investments amounted to about $1 billion. Partner news | Armenian delegation participating in NATO PA session The delegation is headed by Andranik Kocharyan, the chairman of the standing committee on defense and security matters. Schengen visa cost won’t change for Armenia – diplomat The increase in the cost of a Schengen visa will not apply to citizens of Armenia, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson has said. Azerbaijan's defense spending set to increase by 11% Azerbaijan's spending on defense and national security will increase by 11%, according to a fresh bill. Armenian PM’s helicopter makes emergency landing in Vanadzor The helicopter transporting Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan made an emergency landing in Vanadzor. |