The agro-industrial complex is brought to the plus – Economics – Kommersant

In 2023, budget financing of the agro-industrial complex (AIC) is planned to be increased to 475.7 billion rubles. The draft budget adopted by the State Duma in the first reading assumed that less than this year would be spent on state support for farmers next year – 432 billion against 463 billion rubles. But by the second reading, the White House and the State Duma had found additional reserves, including through budget revenues from duties on grain exports. However, it is precisely the mechanism for distributing the amounts collected from grain exports to farmers, as well as the very existence of export duties and quotas, that raise questions from market participants and regional authorities.

The amount of state support for the agro-industrial complex in 2023 will be increased to 475.7 billion rubles, Elena Fastova, deputy head of the Ministry of Agriculture, said on Friday at parliamentary hearings in the Federation Council. So far, she explained, the draft budget for 2023 includes 432 billion rubles, which is less than provided for this year (463 billion rubles). However, by the upcoming second reading of the budget (scheduled for November 22) 14 billion rubles. United Russia deputies have already decided to add, and another 30 billion rubles will be added due to additional income from export duties on grain agro-industrial complex. Mikhail Sanakoev, Director of the Department of Budget Policy in the Economy Sectors of the Ministry of Finance, confirmed these agreements. Of the additional 44 billion rubles. 2.5 billion rubles will be added to the agricultural development program. to the 344.8 billion rubles already provided for in the draft budget, 10 billion to 50 billion rubles for the program for the development of rural areas.

It should be noted that the most costly item of budget expenditures for the agro-industrial complex is the stimulation of investment activity, 173 billion rubles have already been allocated for it. We are talking, in particular, about preferential lending to agricultural producers, the volume of which, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, may grow to 177 billion rubles by the end of this year. against 90.5 billion rubles. in 2021 Approximately the same amount of loans is expected in 2023.

For several years, the agro-industrial complex has actually been a protected budget item – and in recent years, the volume of financial support for the sector has grown significantly (for example, in 2018 it was 240 billion rubles, in 2020 – 300 billion rubles). The growth is explained, in particular, by the allocation of certain areas (for example, the development of rural areas) to independent state programs and the introduction of export duties, which are then returned in the form of subsidies to the sector. Now the increase in funding is also associated with the current problems of the agro-industrial complex – with the aggravated dependence on imports due to sanctions and difficulties with logistics. It should be noted that the volume of expenditures increased in the 2023 budget does not cover all the needs of the industry – earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Victoria Abramchenko estimated them to be at least 900 billion rubles. in year.

There were minimal complaints about financial support measures at the hearings in the Federation Council – only in terms of insufficient transparency. The regions are more seriously concerned about the current restrictions – export duties and quotas for grain exports. From the words of the Deputy Chairman of the Government of Primorsky Territory, Nikolai Stetsko, it followed that the funds that are returned to farmers in the form of subsidies are much less than payments made during exports. In 2021-2022, the federal budget received about 1.7 billion rubles from duties on grain, and the annual subsidy amount is up to 200 million rubles, in connection with which he proposed to return to producers everything paid for the export of grain.

Chairman of the Council of the Dairy Union, Lyudmila Manitskaya, even suggested abolishing export duties and export quotas in the agricultural sector, fearing that due to the pressure of grain surpluses and the price reduction caused by it, some producers may leave the market. It should be noted that earlier the Russian Grain Union also proposed to abandon export duties on the export of grain and reconsider approaches to the formation of quotas.

Evgenia Kryuchkova