Russia to increase subsidies for discounts on farm machinery to 8 bln rubles in 2023 - Mishustin

MOSCOW. Nov 10 (Interfax) - The budget for the Russian government program to subsidize production of farm machinery for subsequent sale to farmers at discounts will be increased to 8 billion rubles for 2023, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said at a government meeting on Thursday.

"The president noted that after the imposition of sanctions our manufacturers managed to take advantage of the window of opportunity in this sector and gained substantial momentum with the support of the government. In order to maintain the momentum of Russian agribusiness enterprises, we are allocating 8 billion rubles for this year. These funds will be directed toward supplying the sector with farm machinery," Mishustin said.

The so-called Program 1432, named after the number of the government resolution that introduced it in 2013, provides subsidies to Russian farm machinery makers so they can sell their products at discounts. The federal budget initially allocated 2 billion rubles for the program in 2023, but in the middle of the year the Industry and Trade Ministry announced a decision to allocate another 3.2 billion rubles.

The increase announced by Mishustin means another 2.8 billion rubles will be added to the program, which will bring funding for it in line with last year's figure. Industry association Rosspetsmash has repeatedly called for increasing funding for the program, which received 10 billion rubles in 2021 and 12 billion rubles in pandemic-hit 2020.

Mishustin said the additional funding for Program 1432 will make it possible to deliver about 6,000 Russian and Belarusian tractors. Rosspetsmash reported earlier this week that sales of farm tractors in Russia fell 12% to 3,500 in the first nine months of 2023. Overall shipments of various types of machinery to farmers grew by 7.5% to 181.4 billion rubles in the nine months, association said.

"The size of the subsidy to purchase machinery will take into account various factors, including the remoteness of the region and organization of logistics," Mishustin said

For example, the discount for farmers in the Far East under Program 1432 will increase to 20% from 15%, which will offset the cost of shipping farm machinery to remote regions in this part of Russia, the Cabinet said in a statement on Thursday.