Deputy Minister of Agriculture Elena Fastova spoke about the main changes in the system of state support for the agro-industrial complex in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
Initially, the amount of state support for the agro-industrial complex this year turned out to be less than last year. How much was added? How much of the total was spent on sowing?
Elena Fastova: The initial budget for 2023 was 445,8 billion rubles. To date, we have managed to increase the amount by almost 26,7 billion rubles, to 472,5 billion rubles. So, during the first quarter, we added funds for the transportation of agricultural products - 4 billion rubles. Considering the situation with grain prices, we have added the same amount of support to the planned 10 billion rubles of support. For traditional stimulating and compensating subsidies, the increase amounted to about 5,5 billion rubles compared to the previous year. That is, the funds are mainly directed to direct support of agricultural producers. As for the sowing campaign, at the moment the farmers have sent about 12 billion rubles to compensate for the costs of mineral fertilizers.
Will the allocated limits on preferential loans be enough for farmers? What are they mostly spent on?
Elena Fastova: Preferential loans are the most demanded measure of support. Every year we increase the limits on them. But all the same, agricultural producers are worried that they will not have enough allocated funds. Comparing with the same period in 2022, we are still within those limits. 19 billion rubles were allocated for short loans. Literally in May, we increased the amount for this direction, because agricultural producers very quickly mastered the money that was allocated initially. Loans for investment projects are also being used more actively this year: if that year for the entire period 2,8 billion rubles of subsidies were allocated to them, then this year - already 5,5 billion rubles. We understand that this type of support is very much needed, so as unclaimed subsidies are released, we immediately increase the amounts for new loans. We expect that we will have the opportunity to add limits during the harvesting campaign.
Most loans (41%) are spent on crop production. In investment loans this year, the need for loans for projects related to the processing of agricultural products has sharply increased. And this is good, because we need to develop a high level of redistribution in this segment.
What support measures can be called unpopular among farmers? Will you cancel them? And, conversely, what subsidies will you introduce?
Elena Fastova: We have no unpopular support measures: the annual cash budget execution is 99,9%. But changes are planned. Now there are two subsidies - stimulating and compensatory. Essentially, the idea behind the stimulus subsidy was to increase output. But today we have practically achieved food security in all areas, and have exceeded it in some areas. Therefore, it was decided that from next year we will combine these two subsidies, removing incentives. Our task is to preserve and support production, and not to stimulate.
Last year, the cost of agricultural production increased significantly. To what extent does state support compensate for this growth?
Elena Fastova: Our main task is not so much to compensate for inflationary costs, but to support agricultural production. But it is possible to calculate the share of state support in the cost structure. It varies depending on the industry. The largest compensation is received in dairy farming, as well as in goat and sheep breeding - 8,7%. And, for example, in the production of vegetables, compensation is not so high - within 3%.
472,5 billion rubles have already been allocated to support the agro-industrial complex this year, which is 26,7 billion rubles more than originally planned
Recently, subsidies for the transportation of agricultural products have been increased. Who will get this money? Is it planned to revise this item of expenditure?
Elena Fastova: Due to the fact that there has been a significant increase in transportation costs, and we need to export grain from the high harvest of 2022, we have increased the amount of financing for grain export from 7 billion to 11 billion rubles. This subsidy is received directly by agricultural producers. It is 25% of the cost of any type of transport - rail, sea, river, road. There is also a subsidy for one-way transportation for Russian Railways - the company is reimbursed 100%, and the agricultural producer enjoys a preferential tariff for the transportation of grain, oilseeds, products of deep processing and fish. Here we also increased support from the originally planned 2,3 billion to 6,3 billion rubles.
Starting this year, small businesses and the self-employed can receive state support for growing vegetables and potatoes. Is this support required?
Elena Fastova: 2023 billion rubles have been allocated for a new program for the development of vegetable and potato growing in 5. This is twice as much as was allocated in this area in 2022. This year, for the first time, personal subsidiary farms and small forms can receive such support. To date, 170 million rubles have been selected under the program. But the costs incurred are compensated, and they are only now being closed in vegetable growing. Therefore, we will see the full picture (including what percentage of this amount the self-employed and small forms took) in the third quarter. I am sure that this measure of support will be in demand.
A year ago, we said that less than 10% of crops are insured in the country. What has changed since then? Why is the agricultural insurance program not in demand among farmers?
Elena Fastova: We started from a very low base — in 2018, there was almost no agricultural insurance. And we finished 2022 with 8,6%. So there is growth. Since 2019, we have grown by 1% annually in terms of the coverage of insured agricultural land. That year we introduced a new type of insurance - from emergencies, which also increased coverage.
There are two reasons for the unpopularity of agricultural insurance. Previously, agricultural producers had a negative experience: if they insured crops, they often did not receive compensation. Therefore, now it is difficult to convince them that the situation has changed. And the second reason is our Russian maybe, when you don’t want to spend money in the hope that it will blow over. Nevertheless, we have regions that have insured more than 50% of their sown areas. This is the Tambov region, the Trans-Baikal Territory, Primorye. They realized that without insurance, you can generally lose the entire crop without receiving any compensation.
In animal husbandry, the results are much more optimistic - on average, 40% of livestock is insured in Russia. And there are regions where this figure tends to 100%. Livestock breeders have already experienced that losses are compensated, there is nothing to fear, so they go into insurance. I believe that a turning point has also occurred in crop insurance. According to our forecasts, in 2023 we will exceed the bar of 9,5% of insured acreage, and next year we will approach 10%.
How is the import substitution of foreign software?
Elena Fastova: A year ago, an industry committee and three centers of competence for crop production, animal husbandry and processing were created, in 2023 a fourth one appeared - for fisheries. Their task is to highlight those software products that are currently only imported and require replacement. Six important projects have already been selected and approved by the government commission, two in each direction. Of these, three are already in operation, two have received government grants. The work is going on, and the business is actively involved in it.