President Vladimir Putin noted the work of the Smolensk agricultural industry

The Russian President Vladimir Putin today held a meeting in the Tver region on the development of agriculture of the Central Nonblack soil zone.

The Head of the State noted that 12 of the 18 regions of the Central Federal District are situated in the Nonblack soil zone. However, according to him, in spite of the less favorable conditions for agriculture than for example in Don or Kuban these areas have great potential for growth. Among their competitive advantages there is proximity to major markets, traditionally good conditions for the development of livestock and agricultural products processing.

"Of course, these advantages should be used to improve the efficiency of the agriculture areas, which are sure to be profitable. Some regions are already carrying out such work; they have worked out programs on priorities of the agricultural policy and the support measures, attracted investors, which is very important for the realization of large-scale projects. So in the Bryansk, Kaluga, Orel, Smolensk and Tver regions large meat and dairy, and greenhouse complexes have been built. Such positive measures, of course, should be used as an example",- said Vladimir Putin. He reminded of the AIC support measures implemented by the federal authorities. 23 billion rubles will be allocated to the development of agriculture in the Central Nonblack soil zone, which is 3 billion rubles more than in 2015. "It is important to ensure the effective use of these resources", - said the Head of the State.

The Russian Industry and Trade Ministry supported the initiative of the Governor Alexey Ostrovskiy on creating an industrial cluster for the production of high-quality products from flax on the territory of Smolensk region. At present, our region is the only one in Russia to have received the support of the Industry and Trade Ministry on this issue.

The necessary conditions for further development of canola production have been created for agricultural producers of the region through the guaranteed sales of grown products at a profitable good price.