Govt demands measures to help farmers survive fertilizer price growth by end Q3 - Medvedev
MOSCOW. June 25 (Interfax) - The Russian government wants to see a mechanism to mitigate the effects of higher fertilizer prices for farmers by the end of the third quarter, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said at a meeting of the government presidium.
"The situation could deteriorate from the start of next year, when fertilizer prices will depend on the market situation and seasonal factors. In this environment we need effective means of support for farmers," Medvedev said.
"I'd like this mechanism to be drafted and submitted to the government by the end of the third quarter," he said.
The government has essentially "controlled a price corridor in recent years and compensated some of the cost of buying mineral fertilizers," Medvedev said. He said this year's budget contained more than 5 billion rubles for this purposes.
"Unfortunately, fertilizer prices are rising, although statistics suggest they remain within the framework of an agreement between farmers and the Russian Fertilizer Producers Association. They have risen 12% since June last year," he said.
Medvedev also said Russia would become a fully fledged WTO member in August and faced two tasks: ensuring that conditions do not deteriorate for the Russian farming sector and finding "more active mechanisms to promote our farm produce and foods industry products on external markets." Medvedev said he planned to discuss this with experts soon.
