Necessary to allocate 28 bln rubles from 2014 budget to spark agricultural development - Fyodorov
SVOBODA, Kursk region. Aug 22 (Interfax) - Russia's Agriculture Ministry is asking the Russian government to allocate 28 billion rubles from this year's budget to compensate interest rates on agricultural investment loans and to subsidize short-term loans using defense funds.
Agriculture Minister Nikolai Fyodorov came to the government with this request at a meeting held by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev Friday on ways to develop Russian agriculture.
"This concerns compensating the interest rate on investment projects that began in 2012-2014 [and were] approved for subsidizing. Banks are already lending to them, but we cannot officially select them because of a lack of federal budget funds. This amount is currently 22.7 billion rubles," Fyodorov said.
He added that another 5.3 billion rubles were needed from the budget to subsidize short-term loans with defense funds. "This is extremely relevant in the current situation. Overall, the total amount of funds that are needed from the 2014 budget is 28 billion rubles, which will help create a spark for agricultural development," Fyodorov said.
