The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Resources of Nizhny Novgorod Region is a regional executive body within the government of Nizhny Novgorod Region responsible for implementing state policy in the agro-industrial sector, agricultural land relations, and food security of the region. The Ministry has been operating at least since the 2000s: it was during that period that the regional targeted program to support agro-industrial enterprises was launched, which the Ministry administers.[2]
Support for the Agro-Industrial Sector
One of the key instruments of industry support is the subsidization of lending rates for agro-industrial enterprises. In 2009, the Ministry signed a supplementary agreement with the Volgo-Vyatsky branch of Sberbank of Russia, increasing the reimbursement of the interest rate on loans from 0.5% to 0.95% of the Bank of Russia's key rate. The change applied to existing loan agreements concluded from 2005 onward. At that time, approximately 300 borrowers were using credit resources under the program, with an outstanding loan balance exceeding 1 billion rubles; the increase in the subsidy enabled a monthly reduction of their debt burden by approximately 10 million rubles. Since 2000, the Volgo-Vyatsky branch had extended 3,900 loans under the program totaling approximately 8 billion rubles.[2]
Agricultural producers who bring abandoned land back into use are eligible for state support: 15,000 rubles per hectare and reimbursement of 50% of the cost of agricultural machinery. Over the five years preceding 2021, 112,000 hectares of land were put back into circulation across the region, including 25,750 hectares in 2020 alone. In parallel, the Ministry is implementing investment projects: as of early 2021, 60 investment projects worth a combined total of more than 37.7 billion rubles were underway in the regional agricultural sector.[1]
In February 2023, Minister Nikolay Denisov signed a cooperation agreement with the Minsk Tractor Plant at the Nizhny Novgorod–Belarus business forum. The document provided for the delivery of 200 units of Belarusian machinery to the region in 2023 — twice the number purchased in 2022, when approximately 100 MTZ tractors were acquired. As of January 1, 2023, Belarusian machinery accounted for 40% of the region's tractor and machinery fleet; the main suppliers were MTZ, Gomselmash, Bobruyskagromash, and Amkodor.[6]
The Land Question
In January 2021, Deputy Minister Ilya Khramov reported at a meeting of the agro-industrial committee of the regional legislative assembly that the total area of agricultural land in the region amounts to approximately 2,980 hectares, of which 1,890 hectares are designated as arable. Unused arable land accounts for 531,000 hectares, or approximately 28% of the total arable fund. Of this amount, around 300,000 hectares have become overgrown with dense forest and are effectively unrecoverable for agricultural use; the Ministry initiated their transfer to the regional forestry department. A pilot plot of 1,200 hectares in Ardatovsky District was selected, of which only 300 hectares were planned to remain in agricultural circulation.[1] Members of the legislative assembly supported the initiative and proposed expediting the procedure, noting the potential to replenish the budget through the sale of commercial timber licenses: in 2020, the forestry department earned approximately 800 million rubles from the sale of such licenses.[1]
Authority
Alexey Morozov headed the Ministry from 2009 and was dismissed in late September 2018. In October 2018, Vladimir Barkhatov, who had previously served as Deputy Minister, was appointed acting minister. Barkhatov began his career as a senior mechanic at the Vorotynsky construction and maintenance unit of Gorkymelioratsiya, then held various positions in the regional agro-industrial management bodies; from 2011 to 2014 he served as Deputy Minister.[3] The Ministry was subsequently headed by Nikolay Denisov, who is mentioned in that role in 2023.[6]
Incidents
Police officers from the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the Volga Federal District uncovered a large-scale fraud targeting the ministry. It was established that over a two-year period, the directors of two limited liability companies embezzled 13.8 million rubles from the budget under the pretext of acquiring agricultural machinery through the federal targeted program "Development of the Agro-Industrial Complex." A criminal case has been opened under the article pertaining to offenses committed by an organized group or on an especially large scale.[4]
Sources
- Kommersant (Volga Region) — Vidit oko, da plug neymet — Kommersant Nizhny Novgorod (archive)
- NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — The Ministry of Agriculture of Nizhny Novgorod Region increased subsidies for interest rate support on loans to agro-industrial enterprises — Nizhny Novgorod News
- V gorode N — Vladimir Barkhatov appointed head of the Ministry of Agriculture of Nizhny Novgorod Region (archive)
- Newsroom24 — The Ministry of Agriculture of Nizhny Novgorod Region defrauded of 13 million — Incidents (archive)
- alagro.ru — The Ministry of Agriculture of Nizhny Novgorod Region recorded no crop losses due to cold weather in May — AlyantsGrupp — flour and grain wholesale in Nizhny Novgorod and Vladimir (archive)
- kovernino-novosti.ru — The Ministry of Agriculture of Nizhny Novgorod Region signed a cooperation agreement with the Minsk Tractor Plant (archive)