05 March 2004 21:19
Russian PM-designate committed to competitive farming
Moscow, 5 March: The government's attention to agriculture "couldn't be more serious", Prime
Minister-Designate Mikhail Fradkov said today, answer deputies' questions in the State Duma.
"The countryside is a way of life," he stressed. Agriculture, in his words, "must be protected,
supported and a competitive environment must be created".
Substantial measures towards achieving this are being taken, Fradkov said. Tax issues have been resolved and
financial checks are being carried out into agricultural enterprises.
At the same time, Fradkov noted that there "are instruments that need to be more actively employed - loans,
subsidized borrowing rates and the leasing of agricultural machinery, which will give agricultural producers and
agricultural machine-building chance to develop".
State grain interventions to regulate prices will continue, he said.
[ITAR-TASS news agency] |
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