First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov's working visit to the Krasnodar Territory began in the Belorechensky District. Mr Zubkov and Krasnodar Territory Governor Alexander
Tkachyov went to the district to launch the first phase of the modern greenhouse facility, Ovoshchi Krasnodarskogo Kraya (Krasnodar Territory Vegetables). The new facility was financed by the state leasing company Rosagroleasing.

This project was undertaken to fulfill the government's instructions to increase vegetable production. The first phase is expected to produce 6,000 tonnes of vegetables annually. Vegetable output will reach 18,000 tonnes when the facility reaches design capacity. This would make it the largest producer of greenhouse vegetables in the Krasnodar Territory. The project received 2.5 billion roubles worth of investment.

Viktor Zubkov also visited a farm equipment display at the 18th International Agro-industrial Exhibition YUGAGRO.

The members of a working group on the technological and production modernisation of the agro-industrial sector and the farm equipment industry continued to discuss the latter.

After the discussion, the working group approved the amended draft Strategy for the Development of the Farm Equipment Sector up to 2020 and also a plan to renew the farm equipment fleet in 2012, with due consideration for a decision to channel 3.5 billion roubles worth of federal funding into the statutory capital of Rosagroleasing.

"The 'Strategy' will make it possible to expand the Russian farm equipment market more than five-fold, from 67 to 350 billion roubles, in 2010-2020. Russian and local manufacturers will sell over 65,000 tractors and nearly 13,000 grain and fodder harvesters annually," Zubkov noted.

"I would like to note that the Strategy reflects the key issues of the farm equipment sector's development, including support for domestic equipment exports. The Strategy will make it possible to increase export volumes by over 17 times, from 2.6 to 46 billion roubles in sales.

"I would like to point out to the Ministry of Agriculture that the main parameters of the Strategy for the Development of the Farm Equipment Sector must be reflected in the State Programme for Agro-industrial Development up to 2020. Yesterday, we examined this programme at a meeting of the Government Commission on Agro-industrial Development. The Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Alexander Petrikov, and his team have done a good job. The programme is very detailed. We will need a little extra time to make amendments to this programme. Notably, we must see to it that the new State Programme conforms to the Strategy's parametres.

"I would like to stress that technical modernisation is a key aspect of state agrarian policy. Each of the concerned departments must thoroughly coordinate their actions in this sphere," Viktor Zubkov said at the working group meeting.