The allocation of an additional 153 billion rubles to the agro-industrial complex of the Russian Federation will allow subsidizing more than 19,000 preferential loans that farmers have attracted earlier, according to a press release from the government.
The order on the allocation of these funds was signed by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. They are directed to support the program of concessional lending to agricultural producers.
“These measures will help farms continue to develop successfully, as well as solve food security problems, providing people with quality products,” Mishustin said at a government meeting on Wednesday.
“The allocated funds will be used to subsidize credit institutions that provide agricultural enterprises with preferential loans. The need for additional financing is associated with a change in the key rate of the Bank of Russia in 2022, as well as with deferred payments and prolongation of the terms of already concluded preferential loan agreements. The reserve fund became a source of funds government,” the press release said.
In early March, Mishustin signed a decree on loan holidays for farmers and prolongation of preferential loan agreements. Agricultural producers received the right to a six-month deferment of payments on preferential investment loans, the contracts for which expire in 2022. We are talking about payments that fall on the period from March 1 to May 31, 2022. For short-term concessional loans, the term of which also expires in 2022, it is possible to extend the loan term for another year. Thus, agricultural producers can reduce the amount of monthly payments and reduce the loan burden, the press release notes.
The preferential loan program for farmers in its current form was launched in 2017. Within its framework, agricultural producers can take a short-term or investment loan at a rate of up to 5% for the development of crop and livestock production, as well as for the construction, reconstruction or modernization of enterprises for the processing of agricultural raw materials. Preferential short-term credit is issued for up to 1 year, investment – from 2 to 15 years.
Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed the government to allocate additional funds for preferential short-term and investment loans to agricultural producers following a meeting on the development of agro-industrial and fisheries complexes in April.