Minister criticizes fisheries agency for inefficient use of funds
GORKY (Moscow region). Sept 7 (Interfax) - Russian Agriculture Minister Nikolai Fyodorov has criticized the Federal Fisheries Agency Rosrybolovstvo for inefficient use of government funds, allocated as part of a government program to develop the industry.
"This is not pleasant for me and especially unpleasant for Andrei Anatolevich [Krainiy, the head of Rosrybolovstvo], but we are not handling the task of efficiently using the funds allocated by the government well," Fyodorov said at a fishing industry meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in Gorky Friday.
The government allocated 1.2 billion rubles in 2011, he said. "More than 700 million rubles, designated for construction of different facilities, including research vessels, for reconstruction of port facilities and fishing terminals, was not used," he said. "The reason for this was ineffective organization and timing." The minister said he was referring to a lack of expert project documentation and expert conclusions.
Fyodorov said that in 2010 200 million rubles in subsidies, which were to be used for the creation of specialized fish markets, were not claimed. Funds put by for refrigeration equipment were also not used. "Again the reason was poor organization." For these reasons, the 2011 and 2012 did not allocate any funds for these projects.
Government support measures for the industry should be systemic and not fragmented, the minister said. The main directions for development in the industry are contained in the Fishing Industry Development Strategy to 2020. The chief aim of this document is to adopt measures that will enable Russia to take a leading position in the global fishing market.
The draft strategy is currently being discussed at the Finance and Economic Development ministries. It envisages allocation of almost 90 billion rubles to achieve its aims. Rosrybolovstvo has said an additional 30 billion rubles is required. Fyodorov did not say whether this amount would be provided, noting only that "there is cause for debate."