Sheep exports from Armenia increase

Armenian Agriculture Minister Gerasim Alaverdian stated on June 2 that in 2009 Armenia exported around 147,000 sheep and that Armenian sheep farmers thus received an unprecedented profit. In the first five months of 2010 Armenia also exported 22,000 sheep, of which 13,000 were re-exported after being initially imported from Russia and Georgia and 9,000 directly exported from Armenia.

Alaverdian stated that in 2009 Armenia had a stock of 511,000 sheep and in 2010 it will have 919,000. Armenia plans to invest in increasing the amount of land sheep can be kept on and thus increase the number of sheep to 1.2 million.

Interestingly the price of lamb has gone down in Armenia, so exporting these sheep has not influenced the lamb price.