Rustam Minnikhanov: One of the main tasks is to save crop areas

The main topic of the meeting, chaired by Russian Minister of Agriculture Nikolai Fedorov, was preparations for the spring field works in 2015 and vegetable-growing under cover in the Volga Federal District.

Addressing participants of the Interdepartmental Commission, Minnikhanov said that republic needs about 15 billion roubles for the spring sowing campaign, of which about 9 billion roubles will be borrowed from the bank. In general, Tatarstan President noted that the financial support of both federal and republican budgets will allow farmers to obtain the necessary credit funds.

Among the important factors Minnikhanov also named support of private farmstead projects. According to him, today loans with high interest rates are unprofitable for private farmers. Minnikhanov proposed to consider the possibility of providing state support measures for the further development of this area.

With regard to issues such as the repair of agricultural machinery, Minnikhanov said that by agreement with a number of industrial enterprises some spare parts for agricultural machinery are expected to be produced in the republic.

Tatarstan President also said that the melioration programme will be continued in the republic. This issue is very important, especially in vegetable production, he added.