A working meeting of Governor Alexey Ostrovskiy and Dmitry Patrushev, the Minister of Agriculture of the Russian Federation

In Moscow, there was a working meeting of Governor Alexei Ostrovsky and Dmitry Patrushev, the Minister of Agriculture of the Russian Federation, during which the parties discussed key issues in the development of the agro-industrial complex in Smolensk region.

The meeting focused on the program for the development of the Non-Black Earth Zone of Russia, in which great attention is paid to flax growing, bringing into circulation unused agricultural land, renewal of the agricultural machinery park, support of farmers and the development of rural areas.

Alexey Ostrovskiy informed the Minister about the implementation of the investment projects in the agro-industrial complex, such as rabbit breeding and flower greenhouse complexes. According to the Governor, in the next two years, two investment projects in the field of dairy farming are going to be implemented in the region, as well as the construction of three modern greenhouse complexes.

Dmitry Patrushev pointed out the positive trend of the agro-industrial complex growth in the region. According to the results of the 1st quarter of 2018, the index of agricultural production amounted to 118.8% to the level of 2017. In addition, the region fully provides itself with meat.

Alexey Ostrovskiy also informed the Minister that last year the state support of technical and technological modernization was renewed in Smolensk region.

Dmitry Patrushev noted the active participation of the region in the program of providing concessional loans to agrarians. According to the result of the previous year, the number of loan recipients increased by 1.7, compared to the result of 2016.

As of July 16, 2018, the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia decided to include in the register of borrowers 44 applications (30 of which are small businesses) for loans amounting to more than 7 billion rubles.

Dmitry Patrushev and Alexey Ostrovskiy also discussed organizing and holding the exhibition "All-Russian Flax Field Day - 2018", which will be held in the region from July 30 to August 1. Exposition of modern agro-technology will demonstrate in the field conditions the advanced achievements of agricultural science and production in the sphere of flax growing. 23 flax-growing regions will take part in the exhibition.

At the end of the discussion, the Governor told the Minister about the creation of the first trade mark "Smolproduct", which today already unites more than 30 manufacturers and over 250 products (bakery, confectionery, meat, dairy products, flour, grains, drinks, groceries).