Kuram in a hurry. The Nizhny Novgorod government promptly developed new subsidies for poultry farmers

The Ministry of Agriculture of the Nizhny Novgorod Region proposes to change the program of concessional lending to poultry farms. Officials intend to use the budget to increase the loan subsidy for agricultural enterprises from 100% to 120% of the key rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation in order to reduce the amount of payments on commercial loans. These measures were the response of the regional authorities to the appeal of the Russkoye Pole agricultural holding, which is starting a new investment project worth 4.5 billion rubles. and asking for more support for farms that partner with the poultry company. The Russian Field believes that the new measures will not make life easier for farmers, but they will support the industry as a whole.

The government of the Nizhny Novgorod region is preparing to submit amendments to the program of concessional lending to agricultural producers for consideration by the legislative assembly. The regional Ministry of Agriculture proposes to make changes that will increase the amount of subsidies for loans to farmers from 100% to 120% of the key rate. As a result, the amount of interest paid on the loan will decrease for all Nizhny Novgorod poultry MEAT producers.

Also, under federal programs, poultry farmers can count on subsidies to reimburse the costs of purchasing machinery, equipment, seeds, fertilizers and fuel in the production of poultry feed. In addition, farmers can apply to the Ministry of Agriculture for a soft loan for the implementation of an investment project and apply for grants for the development of farms. In particular, this may be a grant from Agroprogress for small businesses that have been working in the countryside for more than two years. The maximum grant amount is 30 million rubles. These funds can cover up to 25% of the project cost.

Nizhny Novgorod agricultural holding proposes to increase the production of poultry meat at the expense of private farms
The change in the lending program was the response of the regional authorities to the appeal of the Russkoe Pole agricultural holding. The agricultural holding asked to support farmers who cooperate with companies or plan to. In the spring of 2021, at a meeting with Governor Gleb Nikitin, Anton Romanov, CEO of the agricultural holding, said that his company would involve farmers in poultry farming. According to the plan, farmers buy day-old broiler chickens and compound feed from Russkoe Pole, grow poultry, and the agricultural holding buys adult livestock from them for slaughter and sells the products. Investments in the project - 4.5 billion rubles, of which 2.7 billion rubles. - own funds of the "Russian Field", 1.8 billion rubles. necessary for the construction of farm shops. Anton Romanov proposed to allocate additional funds from the regional budget to the Fund of the agro-industrial complex and finance the construction of farm workshops. Gleb Nikitin considered this "unrealistic" and suggested that his deputy Andrey Sanosyan find ways to support the project.

Deputy Governor Andrey Sanosyan says the Russian Field project is important because it is export-oriented. A large volume of products manufactured by the holding is supplied to CHINA . Farmers involved in the project become export-oriented enterprises. In addition, increasing the production of poultry meat will increase the region's self-sufficiency in this product by 17%. It is planned to produce an additional 23,000 tons of poultry meat per year, according to the Russian Field.

In 2021, the company began building eight poultry houses for four farmers in Nizhny Novgorod using its own funds and loans (the project runs until 2026). He noted that for the farmers directly participating in the project, the increase in the amount of subsidies proposed by the Ministry of Agriculture "will not greatly facilitate the situation" - the allocation of targeted funds to small farms for the construction of workshops would be more efficient. In general, the increase in the rate will be a good help for the poultry industry, Mr. Romanov believes.

Andrei Sanosyan told Kommersant-Privolzhye that other investors, "focused exclusively on the domestic market," are also planning partnerships with farmers. According to the deputy governor, negotiations are underway on the construction of a new enterprise in the Nizhny Novgorod region, which will process poultry and supply products to the Russian market. He did not disclose the details of the project, as negotiations on its implementation have not yet been completed.

Leonid Sedov, President of Seymovskaya Poultry Farm, believes that an increase in the interest rate subsidy on loans will make it easier for poultry enterprises to access finance that can be used to purchase feed, vitamins and vaccines. “It will also be good if poultry farmers are provided with preferential loans at 2-3%, which can be used to modernize existing production facilities. It seems to me that today we have already fed the country with meat and eggs. Now it is necessary to focus on increasing labor productivity and, with the same production volumes, make it more efficient by reducing costs,” Mr. Sedov believes.