As Yelena Skrynnik, former head of Rosagroleasing, settles into
her position as Russian Minister for Agriculture, a poll has
revealed that three quarters of her country think agriculture is
the sector of the economy most deserving of government support.
The survey, by state polling agency VTsIOM, found vast public
demand for farm sector aid – out of 1,600 respondents, an
astonishing 72 percent said agriculture should be the top priority
for government aid.
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Far behind in second place came the construction industry, which
31 percent of Russians championed, followed by the food production
industry at 26 percent. The banking sector, by contrast, won the
heart of only nine percent of respondents, while telecoms crawled
in at last place with just three percent.
It is not just public sentiment that reflects Russia’s
long-standing cultural and economic attachment to farming, either –
the last year has seen impressive commitment to agricultural
investment from government, including a 25 billion rouble boost to
the coffers of Rosagroleasing, Skrynnik’s old company.
Even though Russia’s federal budget for 2009 includes a 15.3
spending cut in agriculture, 45 billion roubles were injected into
state-controlled farming bank Rosselkhozbank in February, while 74
billion roubles may be invested in meat and dairy facilities this
year.
