Promulgated a list of names of subsidized farmers

The Ministry of Agriculture has put in the information resource (www.agro.gov.az) a list of names of persons who have been provided financial assistance for the cultivation of wheat and rice. This step was taken in order to ensure full transparency in the allocation of agricultural subsidies from the state budget.

In April this year the Republican Commission on agricultural subsidies under the chairmanship of the Minister of Agriculture Heydar Asadov decided to provide about 150,000 farmers and legal entities 20,153,500 manats for sowing grain until December 1. According to the list, growers will mostly receive the aid in Jalilabad (2,163,500 AZN) and Sheki (1,239,300 manat).

For each seeded wheat and rice hectare farmers receive an additional 40 manat. Besides, farmers are issued 40 manats per 1 ha of arable land to compensate for the cost of the purchase of fuel and lubricants.

In Azerbaijan since 2007, the government has also paid the purchasing company 50 % of the cost of fertilizers. This year, for these purposes the state budget will allocate 125 million manat of subsidies. The funds are distributed through JSC Capital Bank.

The head of state has repeatedly said that agricultural subsidies do not reach the farmers, and demanded to improve the mechanism of their determination and issuance.

According to the State Statistics Committee, in 2013, Azerbaijan produced 1.898 million tons of wheat (+2.7 %) and 4,947 tons of rice (+27.6 %). However, these official figures are questionable. Studies conducted by the agency Turan for the past 10 years show that almost all need food grain - about 1.5 million tons, which is covered by imports. The main suppliers of grain are Kazakhstan and Russia.

Prior to this, the list of names of persons receiving social aid from the state was announced by the Ministry of Labor and Social Development. - 08D -