Vladimir Putin meets with Oleg Kovalev and Vladimir Mimoglyadov
Transcript:
Vladimir Putin: Mr Mimoglyadov, we saw each other at an event in support of farmers a short while ago, didn’t we? [Link to the congress of the Russian Association of Farm Holdings and Agricultural Cooperatives in Tambov].
In your speech there, you said it was quite distressing that the farmers in the Ryazan Region receive less aid than their counterparts elsewhere in Russia.
I told you then that I knew the Ryazan governor personally, that he’s a responsible and experienced leader, and that the three of us could meet when I come to visit.
So here I am, and the governor is here. He didn’t try to dodge the meeting, as you can see. He even called me to suggest we meet to discuss these issues. He said he would be glad to redress any imbalances he may have overlooked.
Prior to our meeting today, I tried to find out what is currently being done in the Ryazan Region to support agriculture and small-scale farming. A programme is underway to promote small and medium-sized businesses in 2010-2012.
Support for agriculture is a priority in this programme. In the programme, 21 entrepreneurs from rural areas were offered aid in 2008; this number rose to 59 in 2009 and 175 the next year. The number of rural recipients increased from 18% in 2009 to 36% in 2010.
Of the 161 grants awarded to startups in 2010, 81, or one half, went to rural-based entrepreneurs. Fourteen of the awardees used the money to start a farming business. Some 230 loans were approved for small businesses, with 30% going to rural entrepreneurs. This despite the fact that rural businesspeople didn’t apply for micro-credit in 2009.
I also looked up some specific information on your farm. You hold 610 hectares, don’t you?
Vladimir Mimoglyadov: Yes, I do.
Vladimir Putin: You’ve got a nice farm, growing grain, beans, and so forth… You have a John Deere tractor, two MTZ tractors, a combine harvester with all the necessary mounting equipment.
As far as I know, you received 1,536,000 roubles in subsidies in 2008; 909,000 in 2009; and 1,647,000 in 2010.
Most of the funding came from the federal budget, but the region contributed as well. In 2008, some 389,000 roubles were allocated to you by the region and 1,149,000 by the federal government; in 2009, 155,000 and 753,000 roubles, respectively; and in 2010, 355,000 and 1,291,000. All in all, 4,092,000 roubles.
So the problem isn’t so much with your own farm, I assume, as with the Farmers Union partnership you lead, Mr Mimoglyadov.
Please tell us about the situation in detail, will you? It was hard for you to explain things at length when you spoke at the [Tambov] forum, with so many people in the audience and so many questions to take. But now we can have a quiet, in-depth conversation. So please go ahead.
Vladimir Mimoglyadov: Thank you, Mr Putin, for giving me the opportunity to talk personally to you and to Mr Kovalev.
Getting back to the issue I raised at the farmers’ congress, we communicate with our counterparts all across the country.
In your speech, you said that traditionally, the [federal] government provides a lot of aid for farmers in Tatarstan. But here, in Ryazan, we don’t get as much aid as they do in Tatarstan. And in some sectors, we get no aid whatsoever.
Vladimir Putin: Mr Minnikhanov [President of the Republic of Tatarstan] is sure to award you an honourable citizen title…
Vladimir Mimoglyadov: You think so? Well, I wouldn’t mind.
Vladimir Putin: You’ll become a Tatar of honour…
Vladimir Mimoglyadov: Since we have a limited regional budget and rely more on the federal government for subsidies, we’ve encountered quite a few difficulties in the past couple of years. The output of our dairy husbandry has been shrinking with every passing year. As a result of that decline, we’ve failed to qualify for the federal programme you just mentioned – an additional 5 billion roubles for the support of dairy husbandry.
Vladimir Putin: Because of the livestock reductions, right?
Vladimir Mimoglyadov: Absolutely. But this is not just the farmers’ fault, I think. It’s mutual. And the Ryazan Region’s government is also to blame. If this were an isolated case, we could talk about farmer negligence. But if we analyze the situation over the past three years, we see there’ve been selling price dips. Many farm managers decided to downsize as they thought this would help them cope with these difficulties.
Under a regional aid programme, a rouble or two in subsidies is allocated per litre of milk. In the past two years, this programme ran only through April, with no further funding released in the remaining eight months. People expected the promised aid, but it didn’t come. This is part of the reason behind the recent livestock reductions.
Vladimir Putin: You mean some aid was promised, but not delivered in full?
Vladimir Mimoglyadov: Yes, the subsidies were announced, with the necessary funding put aside. But in April, the actual money just stopped flowing in. This has been the case for the past two years.
Vladimir Putin: Is this due to budget limitations, Mr Kovalev?
Oleg Kovalev: Not quite, no. We usually provide milk subsidies when the price is on the decline. But last year saw a sharp increase in milk prices. Today, the selling price is so high there’s no need for subsidies. Milk has become cost-effective, and yields a 30% profit. The outset of 2010 was a hard time for us, so all the money we received that year…
Vladimir Putin: We had some powdered milk brought in from abroad, as well; we should make sure the imports continue…
Oleg Kovalev: We subsidised milk in the first quarter of 2010 because the prices were low then. But we saw them rise steadily in the second, third and fourth quarters. Now they’ve reached 16-17 roubles, and even 20 roubles for high-quality milk. So there’s just no point in subsidising at the moment.
Vladimir Putin: You mean the subsidies were suspended not for lack of money, but because they were deemed unnecessary, right?
Oleg Kovalev: This was provided for in the budget…
More to be posted soon...
источник новости: http://premier.gov.ru/eng/events/news/14430/
