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Russian ministry calls for unsecured farm loans to boost import substitution

MOSCOW, August 08, /ITAR-TASS/. Russia’s Agriculture Ministry said on Friday it would recommend banks to develop products for providing loans to the country’s agribusiness without collateral to boost import substitution.

The ministry discussed this possibility at its meeting on prompt measures for import substitution on the Russian agricultural and food markets.

Russian Agriculture Minister Nikolai Fyodorov gave instructions to develop procedures for the priority allocation of loans to agricultural producers for the accelerated development of output intended for import substitution, the ministry said in a statement.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin ordered on August 6 to ban or restrict for one year the imports of agricultural produce, raw materials and foodstuffs from the countries that joined the economic sanctions against Russia over its stance on Ukraine.

In his order on special economic measures to ensure Russia’s security, Putin instructed the government to specify a list of food imports, which would be restricted or banned and also urged to take measures to restrain the food price growth in the country.

A governmental resolution signed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday holds that Russia has imposed a full one-year ban on supplies of beef, pork, cheeses, poultry meat, milk, fish from the EU countries, the United States, Australia, Canada and Norway.