Damage to Russian agriculture from disasters this year totals almost 10 bln rubles - Agriculture Ministry
MOSCOW. Sept 20 (Interfax) - Natural disasters have caused 9.8 billion rubles' worth of damage to Russian agriculture this year, Deputy Agriculture Minister Yelena Fastova told journalists.
States of emergency were declared in 19 regions, and damage has thus far been calculated for 15 of them, including the Khabarovsk and Trans-Baikal Territories, the Amur, Irkutsk, Saratov, Kirov, Penza, and Nizhny Novgorod regions, Chechnya, Chuvashia, and Bashkortostan, she said.
The Irkutsk region and Trans-Baikal Territory have already received compensation of 475 million and 800 million rubles, respectively, under a presidential decree, Fastova said.
Another four regions in the Far East - the Amur region, the Primorye and Khabarovsk Territories, and the Jewish Autonomous Region - will receive full compensation for the damage they suffered, totaling about 5 billion rubles.
According to the Agriculture Ministry, agricultural damage has been estimated at 3.4 billion rubles in the Amur region and the Khabarovsk Territory and at almost 1.2 billion in the Jewish Autonomous Region and Primorye Territory.
Fastova said the other regions will receive compensation in line with the relevant government resolution (No. 1441). If the damaged sites are insured, the damage will be compensated in full; if they are not, it will not be. Last year, there was 50% compensation for uninsured sites, but that approach is no longer being used, she said.
As a result, about 500 million rubles could be provided to cover the remaining 4.8 billion rubles in damage, as the level of insurance is low, Fastova said.