The official opening ceremony of the Center for Collection, Storage and Distribution of agricultural produce will take place on December 11, 2009 at 11:00 a.m. RA Minister of Agriculture Mr. Gerasim Alaverdyan, the US Ambassador in Armenia Marie Yovanovitch and other dignitaries will attend the ceremony.

The first and unique in its type, the Center for Collection, Storage and Distribution of agricultural produce is founded by the Federation of Agricultural Associations ULE through assistance from MCA-Armenia within the scope of the Water to Market (WtM) Activity.

The center has two refrigeration chambers, each with 40 tons capacity, as well as cooling area with up to 100 tons capacity for short-term storing purposes.

The Center will provide the following services:

• Storing and distributing agricultural produce to groceries, supermarkets, restaurants, hotels and other food outlets
• Renting of refrigeration chambers
• Sorting, grading and packaging
• Exporting