Russia allocates huge sums of money to restore rural economic vitality

In 2015, the Russian Federation will allocate about 9 billion rubles (1 U.S. dollar equals 52 rubles) for the development of rural areas, and various local governments and other institutions will also raise a total of 21 billion rubles.

In 2015, while trying to cope with the economic crisis and stabilize the currency, Russia also continued to make great efforts to support the development of rural areas. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev recently signed an order to allocate about 9 billion rubles (about 52 rubles per US dollar) from the federal budget for the development of rural areas in 2015.

This allocation is carried out in the framework of the national project "Sustainable development of rural areas in the Russian Federation 2013-2020. The project aims to revitalize rural areas over a seven-year period. In addition to the federal grant of 9 billion rubles, local governments and other institutions will also raise a total of 21 billion rubles.

The main task of the project is to encourage young people to return to the countryside and to attract various professionals to settle in the countryside. Of the funds provided by the state and local governments, 4.5 billion rubles will be used to subsidize rural residents of 80 federal entities to help improve housing conditions. Professionals and their families who are willing to move to the countryside will also receive government-provided housing. Another 4.3 billion rubles will be used to unify the construction of water, electricity and natural gas supply networks in most villages and towns in 71 federal entities. Educational and medical conditions in rural areas will also be improved, including the construction of additional primary and secondary schools, kindergartens, hospitals, pharmacies, etc., and the renovation of existing educational and medical institutions. More sports and entertainment facilities will be built in the vast rural areas, and folk culture and traditional handicrafts will also receive financial support. The Russian government hopes to create new jobs and absorb the rural youth labor force in the process of improving rural infrastructure.

In recent years, the Russian government has also adopted a series of policies to support agricultural production. In 2007, Russia's new "Agricultural Law" came into effect, and then the government promulgated the "2008-2012 Agricultural Development, Agricultural Product Market Regulation, and Rural Development Plan", which is Russia's first five-year agricultural development plan. The plan proposes: first, sustainable rural development; second, improving the competitiveness of Russia's productive agriculture, including increasing financial support, realizing modernization and accelerating the development of key areas to replace imports; third, protecting and restoring natural resources, including Soil protection. Agriculture has officially become one of the priority development directions of the national economy, and the state has once again played a leading role in agricultural development.

After the promulgation of the plan, Russia worked hard to improve the outlets of the Agricultural Bank to facilitate the provision of preferential loans for farmers to update agricultural machinery during critical periods such as spring sowing and autumn harvest. State insurance for crops was raised from 26 per cent to 40 per cent. In order to stabilize grain market prices, increase producer income and promote grain exports, the Russian government established the United Grain Company in 2009. In order to help agricultural producers improve production efficiency, Russia will also create a "national agricultural information dissemination system".

2015/5/5 China News Network