Speaking at a press conference Thursday, Mr. Kudrin said that the Finance Ministry had initiated an overhaul in the system of agricultural funding in the past four years. Among other things, it has had easy-term government loans replaced with subsidies to cover interest on loans. The new scheme encountered some resistance at first, but now that it has proved its efficiency, people in the agricultural sector thank the ministry for having it introduced.
"With us allocating for the purpose 3 or 4 billion rubles a year, subsidized loans come to an annual 60 billion rubles," Alexei Kudrin said.
According to him, controversies also arise from leasing conditions, the rescheduling of farms' debts, and the introduction of a flat rate for farm tax.
Mr. Kudrin said he had always been opposed to grain export duties, pushed for by the Agriculture Minister. He said he had explained to Alexei Gordeyev that those who invest in agriculture and cash in on it, including on foreign markets, should not be discouraged from doing so by high export duties, adding that his opponent had remained unconvinced.
The Finance Minister is certain that the State Duma, or parliament's lower house, will pass the 2005 draft budget, approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.
"We coordinate all our actions with the United Russia [faction], as this is the [parliamentary] majority we rely on," Mr. Kudrin said. "So when he spokes against the [2005] draft budget, the Agriculture Minister should not speak on behalf of United Russia."
Mr. Gordeyev is on the Supreme Council of the pro-Kremlin United Russia party.
As was reported earlier, the Agriculture Minister said in his speech to the Cabinet August 23 that he could not support the 2005 draft budget, neither as a whole, nor in particulars. "I am opposed to it ideologically," he said.
Mr. Gordeyev then went on to explain that in most of developed countries, the ratio between federal and regional support for agriculture was 90 to 10. In Russia, this ration is 80-20. "I can see no reserves in the regions to support agriculture," he said. In his view, it is the federal government that should make effort to create a competitive agricultural sector.
Alexei Gordeyev proposes reviewing the issue of subsidizing interest on loans to farmers. He believes the Russian agricultural bank Rosselkhozbank has a big role to play here; primarily it should take upon itself the development of rural credit cooperatives; also, it should have a greater involvement in releasing mortgage loans on farmlands. The minister predicts that 2005 will be a critical year in terms of decommissioning agricultural hardware.
