Putin says Russian govt to penalize cos refusing to aid agriculture
 MOSCOW, Mar 19 (PRIME-TASS) -- Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Friday said the government would penalize oil companies, banks and fertilizer makers refusing to aid the agriculture industry, ITAR-TASS reported.
"I think there are no doubts that the government has enough tools, including very sharp ones, to set everything in order," he said at a meeting on the agriculture industry.
Putin urged oil companies not to increase fuel prices and instructed the government to probe fertilizer price hikes in some regions.
He said the government could regulate fuel prices by using customs tariffs.
Meanwhile, Andrei Tsyganov, a deputy head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service, said the watchdog would probe a hike in diesel fuel prices that took place in early March.
Commenting on measures to aid the agriculture industry, Putin said the government would introduce 10% discounts on wholesale fuel prices for farmers.
He also said state-owned Rosselkhozbank would cut the rate on its short-term seasonal loans to farmers to 12%.
He added that 80% of the interest on such loans would be subsidized by the federal government, which allocated 13.7 billion rubles for that purpose in 2010.
Speaking on other issues, Putin urged agricultural producers to change their farming schedules due to the prolonged winter.
(29.2223 rubles – U.S. $1)
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19.03.2010 16:14
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