The government has already allocated 2 billion rubles to compensate agricultural producers for part of the costs of transporting products by rail.

By the end of the year, it is planned to allocate a total of 4 billion rubles.

This information was announced by the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Mikhail Mishustin. According to him, such a support measure will make it possible to transport an additional 1 million tons of goods.

Thanks to this, farmers will reduce costs and increase marginality, which is very important in today’s conditions of sanctions and export duties, as well as rising production costs.

Which products are eligible for the exemption?

 

According to Mishustin, these are grain and oilseeds, as well as vegetable and fish products, plus fertilizers.

However, agrarians have doubts about what specific crops will eventually be included in this list.

For example, Dmitry Rylko, director general of the Institute for Agricultural Market Studies, is not sure that there will really be grain there. There are doubts about soy.

But in general, according to Rylko, the industry was really looking forward to this support measure, because quite significant funds are really spent on the transportation of products. This hinders the further development of the industry.

At the moment, although a record grain harvest was harvested in the country last year, unfortunately, it will not be possible to boast of record volumes of its transportation. The reason for this is largely the high prices.

Vice-President of the Russian Grain Union Alexander Korbut also agrees that farmers need such support.

It enables manufacturers from remote regions, such as Siberia, to fully enter the Russian market, which would be almost impossible without it.

At the same time, this support measure concerns the transportation of the listed goods exactly through the territory of the Russian Federation.

This is true, for example, for the same soybean, which is grown mainly in the Far Eastern Federal District — very far from the centers of consumption.

Preferential railway tariffs for agricultural producers could greatly contribute to increasing the load of processing enterprises inside the country and creating new supply chains.

Exporters will also be supported

 

On February 27, the Ministry of Agriculture began accepting applications for compensation of part of the costs of transporting agricultural products for export.

It is planned to spend 8 billion rubles for these purposes.

Applications will be accepted until November on the My Export digital platform.

It is planned that the support will make it possible to compensate up to 25% of the cost of transporting agricultural products.