World meat industry news

Concessional lending is the main instrument of state support for small agribusiness. In 2022, more than 11 thousand borrowers took advantage of this opportunity, almost 8.5 thousand of which are peasant farms. Agricultural consumer cooperatives also received additional funds for development. At the same time, farmers believe that the Ministry of Agriculture should support businesses in rural areas by purchasing products from budget institutions.

Soft loans to help

More than 11,000 rural entrepreneurs took advantage of a subsidiary bank loan in 2022, including small farms. The volume of soft loans issued to small agribusiness amounted to more than 217 billion rubles, specified in the office of Deputy Prime Minister Victoria Abramchenko.

In 2022, the volume of subsidies transferred for these purposes amounted to 4.5 billion rubles, for short-term loans - 3.6 billion rubles, for investment loans - 900 million rubles. Funds can be used to purchase or build new facilities for the production, storage and processing of agricultural products, to equip facilities with equipment, machinery and special vehicles. In addition, the grant can also be spent on the purchase of animals, poultry or fish seed.

As Olga Kirillova, Associate Professor of the Department of Economics, Organization and Management of the Agroindustrial Complex of the Northern Trans-Urals GAU, explained to Izvestia, small agribusiness always lacks financial resources for working capital. In agriculture, the period of production and the period of receipt of income do not coincide, and therefore measures are required to reduce the impact of inflation.

We need affordable, not higher than 7%, short-term loans. For small-scale farming, the main problem is access to a simplified marketing system, most do not have electronic document management, labeling and traceability in government information systems.

Grant "Agrostartup" has grown

For start-up agricultural producers, it was decided to increase the size of the Agrostartup grant, the corresponding decree was signed by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. The size of the grant was increased from 5 million to 7 million rubles for those who breed cattle. Both meat producers and milk suppliers can count on them.

An entrepreneur working in the field of crop production or other areas of agriculture can receive a grant of up to 5 million rubles.

Payments have also increased from 6 million to 8 million rubles for livestock breeders working in agricultural consumer cooperatives. For members of cooperatives growing crops or engaged in other activities, the grant has become 6 million rubles.

From 10 million to 20 million rubles, the maximum amount of compensation to agricultural consumer cooperatives was also raised, that is, compensation for their expenses for the purchase of agricultural products from members of the cooperative and from owners of household plots that are not members of the cooperative.

According to Abramchenko, in 2023, activities to develop small agricultural businesses with the involvement of Agroproress grants will continue. The government will allocate almost 4.9 billion rubles for this.

Regional support

Some subjects of the Russian Federation additionally allocated money at the expense of regional budgets: Leningrad, Sverdlovsk and Irkutsk regions, as well as the Republic of Karelia. As a result, many grant recipients, 439 entrepreneurs and households, were able to increase production and sales of products by at least 8%.

On March 1, Yamal will begin accepting applications for grants from indigenous craftsmen and farmers. Grants will be received by both artisans and northerners who have subsidiary farms. The main condition is the preservation of the original habitat and traditional way of life. According to the press service of the YNAO government, the amount for craftsmen will be 200,000 rubles (four winners are envisaged), and a grant of 700,000 rubles will be given to five representatives of small businesses.

In addition, the YNAO has its own agricultural register, which includes 29 enterprises receiving financial support from the region. The Yamal authorities will help producers of meat, fish, vegetables and wild products from eight cities and districts of the district.

Sales of products

Agricultural consumer cooperatives (SPoK) also received additional funds for the development of the material and technical base, the vice-premier's office reported. The average grant amounted to 14.7 million rubles, and the total amount of funding exceeded 1.4 billion rubles.

“Any support for agricultural producers and processors from the government is very important, because now there is a significant reduction in the rural population,” said Leonid Sandakov, chairman of the board of the Tonshaevsky Raipo PC.

Farming is very hard and a costly and unprofitable type of activity, he recalled, therefore, a comprehensive program is needed for the revival of rural areas, rural infrastructure: hospitals, schools, gasification, the Internet.

To increase agricultural purchases from the population and agricultural processing from the government, assistance is needed to ensure the marketing of these products. For example, we need guarantees of its supply to budgetary institutions (schools, hospitals, boarding schools, etc.).

The most acceptable and beneficial for the system of consumer cooperation at the moment is the provision of grants for the development of the material and technical base, says Rashat Shaimardanov, chairman of the board of the Tatpotrebsoyuz.

However, the decrees do not apply to consumer cooperatives that purchase and process products from private farms, said Yuri Ptushkin, Chairman of the Council of the Leningrad Regional Union of Consumer Societies.

“The lack of financial support measures at the federal level is a consequence of the fact that the Ministry of Agriculture does not monitor the volume of purchases of products from personal subsidiary plots, so the government does not have complete information about the activities of the cooperation,” Ptushkin summed up.