Armenia will give citizens aged 63 to 72 up to 2 million drams, about $5,550, to start, restore or grow a business, under a one-year pilot program the government approved at its session on November 5, reports Zartonk Media.
The money is state support and not a loan. If the recipient meets the program’s conditions, none of it has to be paid back.
At least 400 citizens will be enrolled in free business courses, and a maximum of 200 of them will go on to receive financing. The maximum financing for the program is 400 million drams, about $1,109,900, and it will be paid from the 2027 state budget to beneficiaries selected from applications submitted in 2026.
Deputy Minister of Economy Aram Khachatryan presented the program and said it combines two parts, building entrepreneurial knowledge and financing a business plan. “We are not talking about loan financing here,” he said.
Eligibility is set by age, not by pension status. Anyone between 63 and 72 can apply, whether or not they are drawing a pension or currently working. 63 is the retirement age in Armenia for both men and women.
The route runs in two stages. Applicants first take the free course, which lasts at least 20 academic hours and covers starting a business, financial planning, calculating expenses and income, and marketing, with help preparing a business plan. Those who score at least 60 percent on the final assessment receive a certificate valid for 12 months, and then apply for the financing through participating banks.
The government has not yet said where or when applicants can register for the courses, what documents are required, or which banks are taking part.
Applicants must either already run a business, or agree, if they are selected, to register as a sole proprietor or become the founder and executive head of a legal entity before signing the support agreement. The business plan must also pass a financial and economic assessment.
Border communities get first priority, followed by mountainous and high mountainous settlements, then other rural communities. Within each of those groups, pension recipients who are not salaried employees get preference for the training places.
None of the money is handed over as cash. The bank transfers it directly to the suppliers of the goods and services the recipient buys for the business.
The money can be spent on equipment, tools and raw materials, on renting and adapting space, on digital tools, and on other costs the business plan justifies. It cannot be spent on salaries, on repaying loans, on penalties or tax obligations, or on buying a personal vehicle or real estate.
Recipients must keep the business running for at least 12 months. If the support is used for something other than its purpose, or the application carried false data, or the obligations are broken, all or part of the money has to be returned.
“In many cases, by labeling someone a pensioner, we contribute to their economic inactivity,” Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at the session. “We have a political message to convey: people aged 63 still have a life ahead of them.”
Minister of Labour and Social Affairs Arsen Torosyan said more than 100,000 pensioners in Armenia are actively working, and that age barriers have been removed in almost all areas of employment.
The results of the pilot will be assessed after a year.
Dollar figures are converted at 360.4 drams to the dollar, the Central Bank of Armenia rate on November 5, 2026.
