Harvest day

The Ministry of Agriculture received the right to solely manage the state budget of the industry

The Ministry of Agriculture will remain a full-fledged conductor of state policy in the field of agriculture . Up to the resolution of all financial issues: loan rates and their refinancing, as well as approval of the methodology for distributing state support for agriculture between regions. This is what Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov decided at yesterday’s government meeting, despite significant objections from Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin. “I think there is no need to waste time on trifles here,” said Mr. Fradkov. “But give the ministry a flag in its hands! So that they catch a fair wind, and go ahead with full sails!”

In principle, the government's approval of the state support program for the agro-industrial complex for 2008-2012 can rather be interpreted as a political rather than an economic decision. A member of United Russia, Minister Alexei Gordeev began his report at a government meeting with a reminder of an important event in the history of another party in power: “Exactly 25 years ago, at the May plenum of the CPSU Central Committee, a food program was adopted. Thanks to this targeted approach, the country achieved great success by 1991 ". In what exactly was success achieved: in using budget money or maintaining the diet of the population - no one bothered to clarify. Moreover, by the time of the collapse of the USSR in 1991, there was a total food shortage in most of the country, and people only remembered about that same food program in jokes.

Minister of Economic Development German Gref did not agree to a direct form of inheritance of the current program of state support for the agro-industrial complex and the Soviet food program. “I would like to share the pathos, but not in terms of historical retrospective,” he noted. The soul of the chief economist was warmed by the “long-term policy”. “We don’t always meet the expectations of agricultural producers,” he admitted. “The agricultural sector is our most restless client.” However, today, according to him, the ministry has organized state support in such a way that it will become even more market-based than in Western countries. And in general, the Ministry of Agriculture is doing well, because, in Mr. Gref’s opinion, it is “the most open department” and has prepared “the largest number of targeted programs.”

And everything would have been wonderful if Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin had not intervened in the atmosphere of general euphoria, asking the question: is the “long-term policy” of the Ministry of Agriculture so impeccable - for example, when you take out a loan for a period of ten years at an interest rate of 10%? “Alexey Leonidovich, you are formulating the question incorrectly,” Mr. Gordeev responded unkindly. But the chief financier demanded a specific answer on the rate. Chairman of Rosselkhozbank Yuri Trushin had to admit: “We issue loans at a fixed rate. And so far everything is only getting worse...”

After this, Mr. Kudrin gave a mini-lecture to his colleagues: “We have a special country. When we stimulate long-term loans, we find ourselves in an objective contradiction. In five years, our inflation should be halved. To 4.5%. And after for ten years the rate will remain fixed at 10%. Not a single manufacturer will meet such a rate, despite any subsidies." Therefore, he proposed not to delegate the approval of financial standards to the Ministry of Agriculture, but to leave decision-making to the government.

Alexey Gordeev saw in this proposal a hardware revolution. “If the government approves all subsidies, it will be a cumbersome system that creates traffic jams. And I demand the introduction of ten-year loans starting next year,” he said. It was then that the prime minister intervened, returning everyone, as he put it, “to the topic of the human factor.” It turned out that “the persistent work of Minister Gordeev,” although a “subjective factor,” was highly appreciated “even by Mr. Gref.” Therefore, the prime minister allowed such a capable subordinate not to waste time on trifles. Which will be difficult not to fulfill, since the state support program for the agro-industrial complex for five years “costs” the budget 1 trillion rubles.

Vera KUZNETSOVA