The agenda includes plans to raise the duty-free threshold for individuals importing goods from within the EAEU, payments to employees of social agencies, preferential transport fees along the Northern Sea Route, and the operation of Russian agriculture sector under external sanctions pressure.
Mikhail Mishustin’s opening remarks
Meeting with deputy prime ministers on current issues
Excerpts from the transcript:
Mikhail Mishustin: Good afternoon, colleagues.
The Government is continuing to take measures to alleviate the impact of sanctions on the Russian economy. While logistics and trade chains are being disrupted, it is important to ensure that people still have access to the goods that they are used to having. They should be able to buy them despite the restrictions imposed by unfriendly states.
To achieve this goal, we are cooperating with our partners in the Eurasian Economic Union. At Russia’s proposal, the EAEU will increase the duty-free threshold for purchases from foreign online stores from 200 to 1,000 euros. The weight requirements will remain the same: packages must not exceed 31 kg. The Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission has approved this decision and it will be effective until 1 October 2022.
We discussed this matter at length during the meeting of the response centre last week. We also discussed the availability of products on the consumer market at the recent meeting with the President.
It is important that people have a choice. Increasing the duty-free threshold will allow our citizens to purchase goods from foreign online stores – especially because some of them already accept payments using Mir bank cards. We expect there will be an increasing number of these stores.
Now, about the coronavirus situation, the infection rate is slowing down. Needless to say, all patients still need the necessary treatment and care.
The Government continues to provide support to social workers who are helping to combat the pandemic in the nursing homes, care homes for the disabled and other similar organisations. At the President’s initiative, lump sum payments will be provided to such workers. The Government has allocated over 1 billion roubles for this purpose.
Please, make sure that people in all regions receive these payments on time.
There is another decision. Amid the external anti-Russian sanctions, it is crucially important that there is no interruption in the active development of the Northern Sea Route. These are safe and reliable routes that are within the waters and exclusive economic zone of our country. Over the past five years, the cargo traffic there has increased more than three times over, reaching almost 35 million tonnes last year.
The implementation of the further plans is one of the key state priorities. The President set an objective to increase cargo traffic along the Northern Sea Route to 80 million tonnes by 2024. There is demand for these routes from businesses.
To increase their economic attractiveness, the Government has introduced additional state support measures for container shipping. Russian shipping companies that make two or more round trips a year, will be eligible for special subsidies. The three-year federal budget will provide 560 million roubles annually for this purpose.
Thus, Russian shippers will enjoy preferential rates, which means that there will be a cost-competitive sea alternative for the delivery of equipment, construction materials, fish products and other essential cargoes both from west to east and east to west.
Regular routes will link cities in European Russia (the St Petersburg and Murmansk ports) with those in the Far East (the Vostochny and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky ports).
I am asking the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic to start subsidising traffic through the Northern Sea Route. Expanded traffic volumes will depend on our effective and well-coordinated work.
Today, we will also discuss the situation in agriculture. Like businesses in other spheres, agrarian companies are now working under new conditions. As the President has said, we need to provide them with maximum business freedom and support their business initiatives, all the more so since the agrarian sector’s success influences Russia’s food security, and this is one of our current priority tasks.
In the past few weeks, the Government has adopted a number of decisions that should prove helpful during the sowing campaign, among other things. We stipulated over 100 billion roubles’ worth of federal-budget funding to support the agro-industrial sector, as part of implementing the state programme for the development of agriculture. The Government recently allowed agricultural producers to take out additional soft loans.
Ms Abramchenko, how is the spring sowing campaign going? Have the regions received federal-budget funding? And when will it be possible for them to take out soft loans?
Viktoria Abramchenko: Mr Mishustin, as per your instruction, the Government and the regions are working systemically to facilitate the uninterrupted work of the agro-industrial sector.
Our priority is to conduct the scheduled 2022 sowing campaign. Spring sowing is now underway in Southern, North Caucasus, Central and Northwestern federal districts.
As of 18 March, spring crops have been planted in an area of 278,000 hectares, or 62,000 hectares more than on 18 March 2021.
Winter grain crops have been fertilised on an area of 4.7 million hectares, or 500,000 hectares more than in 2021. The regions have prepared for the spring sowing campaign in advance. Farmers have enough petroleum, oil and lubricants and mineral fertiliser to equal 2021 volumes. We are shipping mineral fertiliser under the agreed-upon schedules. Mr Mishustin, to promote the modernisation of farming equipment under the current complicated conditions, you made a decision to set aside an additional 12 billion roubles for the easy-term agro-leasing programme. This will allow farmers to purchase at least 1,000 pieces of machinery and equipment. This measure will also work to incentivise Russian farming equipment manufacturers and to continue import substitution.
I would like to note that we have enough domestic seeds of basic grains. The Ministry of Agriculture and the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Supervision (Rosselkhoznadzor) promptly handle foreign seed supplies, including for vegetables and potatoes.
I would like to talk separately on plans for planting buckwheat and beets. Frenzied sugar and buckwheat demand was recorded during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. As in 2020, I would like to calm our citizens and tell them that Russia is completely self-sufficient in sugar and buckwheat. Don’t panic and don’t buy these items in quantity. The volumes are enough to meet everyone’s needs. Panic buying only destabilises the manufacturing chain. I want to note that the country has enough sugar and buckwheat to meet domestic demand.
In addition, we have adopted decisions to expand buckwheat and beet crop land. We are planning to expand it by an average of 50,000 hectares. This means that the next harvest will fill store shelves with sugar and buckwheat, and Russian bakers and confectioners will have enough sugar.
Affordable funding, including lending resources is one of the most important factors in stabilising the situation and conducting the sowing campaign. Mr Mishustin, the agrarians would like to thank you for your decision to set aside an extra 25 billion roubles to subsidise loan interest rates. This will make it possible to issue the same number of loans as in 2021. Loan interest rates will not exceed 5 percent.
Another 5 billion roubles have been allocated for subsidising over 8,000 soft loans this year under earlier obligations.
Mr Mishustin, the relevant agencies have received the funding, and farmers are able to apply for it since 11 March. The soft loan programme involves 32 loan agencies all over the country. This decision will allow banks to provide the sector with soft short-term loans worth at least 158 billion roubles.
Mikhail Mishustin: Thank you. This is a good reserve for future harvests. Please, Ms Abramchenko, keep the situation under control. If the regions need extra help, for example because of weather surprises, it should be provided immediately.
Today, it is particularly important to protect the domestic agriculture market in raw materials and foodstuffs. Please tell us what has been done in this area.
Viktoria Abramchenko: Mr Mishustin, we have already drafted and adopted ten Government regulations as a matter of urgency in order to maintain the stability of the Russian agribusiness under these difficult conditions and in the face of the sanctions.
We will report on another regulation intended to support the industry at the next government meeting this week. It involves allocating an additional 2 billion roubles to subsidise the transport of agriculture products and goods for agricultural production. This decision will help level price fluctuations in the agricultural produce, raw materials and foodstuffs markets, and ensure stable supplies of food to remote regions. In total, we plan to transport at least 1 million tonnes of cargo using preferential railway tariffs. We have also promptly adopted decisions to support backbone enterprises in the agro-industrial complex, which were in a difficult situation because of the sanctions; we allocated 26 billion roubles for this purpose. Core companies and their subsidiaries will be able to obtain loans at a preferential rate of 10 percent to replenish their working capital through the end of this year. These funds have been transferred to the banks and are ready for disbursement to the enterprises in the sector as of today.
An important measure to support agriculture is the option to extend earlier concessional short-term loans with a maturity date in 2022, for up to one year.
In addition, a decision was made to postpone repayment of the principal debt on previously taken concessional investment loans with a maturity date this year, from March 1 to May 31, for up to six months.
The Government has allocated 2.5 billion roubles to support baking enterprises and stabilise bread prices. And the Government has already prepared a decree on the distribution of these funds across the regions.
I would like to stress that the Russian agro-industrial complex provides the country with basic foodstuffs in full. There is no reason for shortages under the sanctions pressures.
In addition, we continue to increase imports from friendly countries in order to saturate the market and expand the range of products. The Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Supervision has already opened imports from over 140 companies from Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Turkey, India, China and other countries. This means the availability of vegetables and fruits, dairy and meat products, fodder and feed additives, and pedigree materials.
Mr Mishustin, despite the difficult economic situation we do not intend to abandon our work to create comfortable living conditions in rural areas. I am talking about the implementation of the Integrated Development of Rural Areas state programme. This year, we are planning to complete 25 projects to develop sites for compact housing construction.
To promote employment, we will hire over 5,000 specialists at the expense of the federal budget for training agricultural producers and for internships.
This year, we will continue to implement 857 projects to improve public areas in rural areas. Of course, projects for the comprehensive development of rural areas are the most needed item in the programme. This year, 16.5 billion roubles has been allocated for the implementation of these projects. We will complete 93 projects in 46 regions.
We will continue to build roads in rural areas. A total of 8.6 billion roubles has been allocated for this purpose, which will be applied to 124 transport infrastructure projects with a total length of 273 kilometres.
I would like to point out that this programme also affects the creation of new jobs in rural areas. Last year, for example, more than 19,000 new jobs were created.
Continuous growth in production and improving the quality of life in rural areas are among our unconditional priorities. And we will accomplish our goals, regardless of sanctions or other external circumstances.
Mikhail Mishustin: Thank you, Ms Abramchenko. We must continue working on the comprehensive development of rural areas. This government programme includes improving living conditions in rural areas. We are talking about new roads, schools and medical facilities, upgrading the utility infrastructure, and new cultural centres and sport grounds.
More than 90 projects in 46 regions have been scheduled this year. It is necessary to complete them on time and without fail.
