Abramchenko: Russia pledged 23 billion rubles to support the agro-industrial complex in new regions

The Russian budget for the current year includes more than 10 billion rubles. to support the agro-industrial complex (AIC) in new regions, more than 13 billion will be allocated for these purposes in 2024, Deputy Prime Minister Victoria Abramchenko said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

As the Deputy Prime Minister clarified, it is still difficult to say how many agricultural producers, who are mainly covered by all state support measures, work in the territories annexed to the Russian Federation. This year, the government will collect statistics on “agricultural land, legal entities, entrepreneurs, farms.”

“And we have laid down support measures in the budget. For 2023 – more than 10 billion rubles. for four territories and for 2024 – more than 13 billion rubles. We plan to fully integrate the new territories into our regulatory framework, into the legal field as early as 2025,” Abramchenko said, adding that for now, programs to support the socio-economic development of new regions with funding from the federal budget will work.

Last year, Russia delivered thousands of containers and garbage trucks to the new territories, and waste sorting is now being worked out, the Deputy Prime Minister said. According to Abramchenko, this year the authorities should develop and approve territorial waste management schemes for new entities, similar to other regions.

In December last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed the government by the end of the first quarter of 2023 to prepare a program for the socio-economic development of four new regions. He also stated that a maternity capital program will also appear in the DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions. New subjects should reach the all-Russian standard of living by 2030, Putin noted.

In addition, in November, United Russia chairman Dmitry Medvedev signed a list of instructions following the meeting of the party’s program commission, several of which concerned new territories. In particular, Medvedev suggested to Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin that he consider the possibility of combining the implementation and financing of all the activities of federal departments aimed at developing new subjects into a separate state program.

During a special operation in Ukraine, the Russian military took control of the LPR, as well as most of the DPR, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions. At the end of September, five-day referendums were held in these territories on the issue of joining subjects to Russia. Residents supported the entry of regions into the Russian Federation by a majority of votes.

On September 30, the President of the Russian Federation and the heads of the DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions signed agreements on the regions joining Russia. On October 4, the Federation Council, following the State Duma, ratified all the treaties, and the next day Putin signed federal laws on the admission of four new subjects to the Russian Federation. Martial law has been introduced in four regions since October 19.