Alexey Tsydenov, Head of the Republic of Buryatia, and Boris Listov, RusAg’s Chairman of the Board and CEO, have agreed to ramp up support for Buryatia’s major businesses, farmers and rural tourism.
Buryatia’s Minister for Agriculture and Food Galsan Dareyev presented a project for the construction of a 20,000-tonne-capacity potato / vegetable combined storage. For this project, the company has developed a business plan, design documentation and received an environmental assessment certificate.
‘Having a facility of that kind in place will go a long way towards price stabilisation. Put simply, it will help greatly mitigate seasonal hikes in vegetable prices,’ said Alexey Tsydenov.
‘Stronger agricultural production and a balanced food pricing policy are two things that go together. Russian President said the other day that we have to keep agri-food price growth under control in the Far East, making sure that it doesn’t exceed the average rates for Russia. And this is across the board. We at RusAg will continue to finance projects that are key for Buryatia and the entire Far East. For us, it is essential that people can access enjoyable, high quality food at reasonable prices,’ said Boris Listov.
Over almost 19 years of regional presence, RusAg has invested more than RUB 64 billion in the Buryat economy, of which a hefty portion, RUB 37 billion, went into the development of agribusiness.
Meeting with Buryatia’s top officials, Boris Listov presented Rusag’s new digital services, a crucial tool that comes alongside financial support for agribusiness development.
‘As an example, with ecosystem Svoe.Fermerstvo (My Farming), businessmen can buy products they want for business as well as recruit employees. My Farming offers a wide range of services for farming that automate a lot of day-to-day operations and help a farmer save a lot of time and money. As to Svoe.Rodnoe (A World of My Own), this platform is in fact a nation-wide shop window of farm products. Potential buyers can get direct some of the finest and freshest farm products through a mobile app, bypassing intermediaries and extra charges,’ said Boris Listov.
Recognising the relevance of RusAg’s digital services, Alexey Tsydenov stressed that A World of My Own is a free online store.
‘It is really important, because other electronic platforms are charging today 20,000 roubles and more to register – just register and get access. I strongly recommend that our farmers register, put up their products and sell not only here in Buryatia, but across Russia and perhaps the world over. The platform is out there, so be sure you don’t miss the opportunity,’ said Alexey Tsydenov.
Boris Listov and Alexey Tsydenov also discussed rural tourism. RusAg will consider holding Svoe (My Own), a farm food fair, in Buryatia simultaneously with the Russian Conference for Rural Tourism, scheduled by Buryatia’s Government and the Agency for the Development of Rural Initiatives for October 2021.
‘We’ve discussed Svoe and decided to run it in parallel with a conference on rural tourism. As the flagship bank for rural communities, we keep a focus on rural tourism and have come up with a relevant project. One of the key steps would be to open up new tourist routes for Russian and foreign travellers. This year we are going to have a big trip titled Following Old Believers’ Trails, and its route traverses Buryatia as well,’ said Boris Listov, adding that the event will be held depending on the COVID situation.
Collaborating on residential housing projects
With regard to those medical workers who took out mortgages under the Rural Housing / Construction Mortgage Programme, Buryatia’s Ministry of Health has developed a scheme to encourage them to stay in the countryside by committing to making payments towards the principal and interest throughout the entire tenor of their loans and the term of their employment. It takes up to 15 years and RUB 2.5 million to construct a residential area, and a medical worker is expected to make an initial down-payment of 10 per cent.
As of 1 March 2021, there were 525 families on the list of those who needed homes, including 457 in the countryside and 68 in Ulan-Ude.
In 2020, RusAg made available 476 loans worth RUB 886 million under the Rural Mortgage programme in Buryatia, plus 39 more loans, at the rate of 1.7 per cent, worth RUB 80 million under the Far East mortgage programme.
‘Behind these cold statistics are happy families who have been able to buy homes, and it is fascinating that RusAg can change the lives of Russian families for the better. It is our objective to bring rural communities in this country back to life, and that is why we are making convenient services and banking products available to the people in the countryside so that they can live a life of quality and use them to launch or develop a business or buy or improve a home,’ said Mr Listov.
‘On the one side, people are buying homes with a mortgage. On the other, we are fully subsidising all payments related to their mortgage. With RusAg, we will be able to grow the scope of our residential offering many times, keeping it free for the people. We have agreed all the essential terms with Mr Listov. Clearly, we will have to amend republican laws, but then we will be in a position to significantly speed up delivery of the programme and make available about ten times more residential property in the future than today,’ added Mr Tsydenov.