Banks have started to refuse to grant soft loans to agrarians
Banks have started to withdraw from the program of preferential lending to agricultural producers. Sberbank was the first to make such a decision. Its share accounted for 35% of financing of the Russian agro-industrial complex (AIC), previously reported Anatoly Popov, Deputy Chairman of the Board of the financial organization.
The decision of the bank to refuse to participate in the program in 2025 was discussed at a meeting with the participation of the Ministry of Agriculture, representatives of the government, regions and the agro-industrial complex. About this "Izvestia" told the representatives of agrarian business and confirmed the authorities of the subjects.
"Plans for the next year of the leading banks of Russia on lending to the industry were heard. Unfortunately, Sberbank said that with the high rate of the Central Bank and unfavorable situation, it can not afford next year to issue short-term and investment loans for agriculture," - said "Izvestia" executive director of the Potato Union Alexei Krasilnikov.
According to him, preferential lending is very important for the industry, as it helps, among other things, to carry out the sowing campaign, so it is necessary to maintain its availability. Last year agrarians were already faced with refusals to receive such loans in the Samara region and in the Urals.
Vasily Ivanov, a participant of the meeting, deputy governor of the Volgograd region, who supervises the agro-industrial complex, confirmed to Izvestia that he is familiar with Sberbank's decision, but sees the situation differently.
"The mechanism of preferential lending to the agro-industrial complex is very efficient and effective. Since 2017, very many agricultural producers in our region have used it. As for Sberbank, we have always worked with him very well. He took a pause in lending to agricultural producers not only for 2025, but also in the last three months of last year," he explained.
According to him, the Ministry of Agriculture together with regional ministries, departments and committees have already held a number of meetings and redistributed the limits that were intended for the bank.
Read more in the exclusive material of "Izvestia":
With grain minus: banks have started to refuse to grant soft loans to agrarians
