At the meeting, the board members reviewed Rosagroleasing's performance over the last seven months.
Since the beginning of the year, the company has signed several contracts to lease 2,243 pieces of agricultural equipment. As Viktor Zubkov stressed, "it is necessary to ensure that the equipment is used efficiently throughout the year. Regional centres providing maintenance, repair and consulting services are one way to ensure efficiency. Establishing such centres will accelerate the introduction of new soil cultivation technologies, including energy saving techniques." Rosagroleasing General Director Valery Nazarov announced that pilot projects to set up such service centres are currently being developed in cooperation with the Leningrad, Samara, Ryazan, Tambov and Yaroslavl regions.
Between January and July 2010, 7,409 heads of livestock were supplied to the regions, and 6,415 pieces of equipment for keeping cattle were set up and upgraded. Viktor Zubkov highlighted the importance of gradually drawing down the amount of imported pedigree cattle to 40% of the total by increasing the number of pedigree calves from Russian breeding farms.
The board members also discussed the possibility of deferring lease payments for agricultural producers who sustained losses because of this year's drought. "We should deal with each request individually. We must consider how diversified their crops are and their options for obtaining other sources of funding. Deferred payments should be a way to recovery, not a way to delay bankruptcy," Viktor Zubkov said.
Board members supported the efforts of Rosagroleasing's management to increase productivity, implement new business models and improve interactions with lessees. As part of these efforts, the company has cut insurance rates for lessees by up to 50% as well as developed a new concept of regional development and programmes for communicating with lessees electronically.
Toward the end of the meeting, the attendees approved the board's plan for the next six months of the year and appointed the chairs and members of the board's committee on risk management and audits, the committee on human resources and remuneration, and the committee on strategy and finances. These committees will be chaired by Vladimir Gusakov, MICEX vice president, Vladimir Fisinin, president of the Russian Union of Poultry Producers, and Andrei Sharonov, Troika Dialog managing director.