Translated material
Feed your peasants
To combat the consequences of crop failure, the government is ready to unpack the grain fund
Yesterday, members of the Presidium of the Cabinet of Ministers delved into one of the two eternal troubles of our agriculture - crop failure. In previous years, the government had to solve the second main peasant problem - too much harvest, but even in case of the current state of affairs, the cabinet of ministers already has a list of measures. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced the launch of a program to support agricultural producers affected by unpredictable natural phenomena beyond anyone's control, in full accordance with the famous formula of one of the former ministers of agriculture of the Russian Federation, “Russia must feed its peasants.”The meeting began with a discussion of the problems of fishing, which, however, is also part of the agro-industrial complex. The head of Rosrybolovstvo, Andrei Krainy, made a proposal to combine quotas for coastal fishing and for work in the exclusive economic zone: “Fishermen are limited by the state border, a 12-mile zone. But the fish have no idea about our difficulties and move around regardless of administrative boundaries. Thus, fishermen who have a permit to fish in the economic zone cannot enter the 12-mile fishing zone and vice versa,” Mr. Krainy explained. Head of Government Vladimir Putin was imbued with the problems of illiterate fish and literate fishermen and ordered the preparation of amendments to the legislation.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Alexei Kudrin reported on the results of the federal budget execution for the first half of the year. According to the Ministry of Finance, revenues for six months amounted to 3.995 trillion rubles, or 51.3% of the annual plan. “At the same time, as a percentage of GDP, we received 19.3% of GDP, which is still not up to the pre-crisis level, when we received 22-24% of GDP in the first half of the year,” the minister hinted that it is too early to talk about the complete end of the crisis . However, the shortfall in revenues to the pre-crisis level was, among other things, influenced by non-crisis factors, including the replacement of the unified social tax with insurance contributions, which is now not credited to the federal budget, which reduced revenues by 219 billion rubles. But expenses as a percentage of GDP turned out to be one of the highest compared to other years - 21.4% of GDP, or 4.435 trillion rubles. (43.4% of what was planned for the current year). The adjusted deficit for the first half of the year is 2.1% of GDP.
The Minister of Finance laid the blame for the underfulfillment of the spending plan on lower-level budget managers - the Ministry of Finance itself brought 99.9% of the limits for the year to the next level, but “there are ministries or budget managers that brought less than 50% - this is the management of affairs, "Rospechat", "Rosgranitsa", Federal Agency for Science and Innovation, Federal Agency for State Reserves." At the same time, the average increase in limits for all ministries and departments is 73.9%, which is not enough for this period of the year, Mr. Kudrin said.
Also, as of July 1, the Reserve Fund amounted to 1.226 trillion; taking into account planned spending, by the end of the year the Ministry of Finance expects to save just over 300 billion rubles. As of July 1, the National Welfare Fund contains 2.666 trillion rubles.
Vladimir Putin instructed the Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin to provide assistance to Kyrgyzstan - monetary ($10 million) and material - up to 20 thousand tons of diesel fuel. Mr. Sechin also reported that the practice of previous years continues - providing agricultural enterprises with fuel and lubricants at reduced prices.
But this year, peasants complain less about the machinations of fuel and lubricants suppliers; villagers are more worried about the elements beyond their control. “It’s been a cold winter with little snow, and now there’s also a drought,” the head of government reminded that there is no one to blame for this situation. “Of course, we will not leave agricultural producers alone with this large-scale disaster,” he added. “First of all, it is important for us to ensure the economic sustainability of agricultural enterprises so that they do not fall into a debt trap, can carry out their current activities normally, fulfill their financial obligations, service loans that were previously received and even extended.”
The Prime Minister said that together with the regions, budget loans and subsidies will be allocated, and the use of the grain intervention fund will also begin, including to support livestock enterprises that may face a shortage of feed.