Participants in the meeting considered the bank's loan portfolio development. It grew by 13% to 692 billion roubles in the first half of 2010. The bank has granted over 230 billion roubles in loans since January 1 this year, over 75 billion roubles of which were given to agricultural producers for carrying out seasonal work. Over 8 billion roubles were spent on new equipment, which allowed farmers to buy 3,357 pieces of machinery in the first half of this year, 6.4% more than in the same period of last year.

Since the beginning of this year the bank has decreased the basic rate on newly issued loans three times, including a decrease from 15% to 12% for loans for seasonal agricultural work and from 16% to 14% for loans to be used to purchase agricultural machinery. However, Viktor Zubkov emphasised the need to continue work to improve the affordability and quality of banking services for rural areas.

Those participating in the meeting paid particular attention to Rosselkhozbank's extension of loans already given to agricultural producers who have been hit by the drought. Viktor Zubkov said that the government would soon sign a resolution on subsidising the interest rates on these extended loans. At the same time, he laid a special emphasis on the need to examine rigorously every single application and each farm's financial capability. "Loan extension must be a mechanism for financial recovery and restoring borrowers' solvency rather than a way of delaying their bankruptcy," the first deputy prime minister emphasised.

Also with a view to developing the bank's loan portfolio, members of the Supervisory Board supported Rosselkhozbank's expansion into offering loans in other sectors, including fisheries, forestries and other industries allied to agriculture.

In the conclusion, the Supervisory Board passed Rosselkhozbank's sponsorship programme for the second half of 2010. Exhibitions and information campaigns about Russian agriculture were the programme's top priorities.