At a press conference, Nikolai Sherstnev assessed the effectiveness of agroholdings and business activity in the Vitebsk region
The Future Belongs to the Major Player
Regional media, including the pages of "Vitebskiye Vesti," have repeatedly written about the creation and initial steps of integration structures in the region's agro-industrial sector. Therefore, journalists could not help but ask: has this experiment been successful, and are agroholdings yielding the expected results?
Currently, these structures each have over 70 thousand hectares of arable land. For example, the lands of the Vitebsk Integration Structure are located in 8 districts and include all large-scale production facilities, including pig farming complexes, beef cattle fattening complexes, and dairy farms.
– The revenue growth rate from product sales by agroholdings over three months was 139.5%. The highest figure was achieved by the Vitebsk Integration Structure, with a growth rate of 159.4%. The Orsha agroholding showed 107%. And what was happening in Orsha 2-3 years ago? The dairy plant was on the verge of bankruptcy, the meat processing plant was bankrupt, and the grain processing plant was idle. Today, everything is operational, and there is a positive trend. Grain yield last year, despite the difficulties, increased by 142%, and rapeseed by 152%. This is efficiency, – Nikolai Sherstnev presents his arguments.
– In the coming years, we will restructure the entire agricultural sector based on this principle, reaching every farm. We will provide support to the parent structure without burdening it with the debts of weaker farms. The future belongs to the major player in the market, – the head of the executive vertical is convinced.
Nikolai Sherstnev sees the creation of a unified trading company, which will represent our producers, especially abroad, as the next step for the effective promotion of agricultural products from the Vitebsk region to domestic and foreign markets.
– The manufacturer must produce the goods, and a special company must be responsible for their sale, – the chairman of the regional executive committee states categorically.
The Big is Seen in the Small
In addition to powerful agro-industrial giants, the region's economy relies on small and medium-sized businesses, including in the agricultural sector.
– As of today, half of the agricultural land in the region is held by insolvent enterprises that are unable to work on them. Only thanks to the created integration structures do we supply fertilizer, provide fuel, plow, and sow. But this cannot go on indefinitely. Conditions must be created for those who will come to these lands. There will be a place for farmers, any individual entrepreneur; one can engage in sheep farming, cattle fattening, and small-scale product processing.
– There is scope for everyone to apply their abilities by investing in production and bringing order to the remaining territories, which will yield the maximum economic effect, – the head of the region is confident.
At the same time, given the existing opportunities for the creation and development of medium and small businesses, there are more potential starting platforms in the region than those willing to come and start their own businesses. According to Nikolai Sherstnev's assessment, there are many doubters, but one must be bolder in business, and local authorities, for their part, must work more actively to create and offer appropriate conditions.
Meanwhile, the share of the private sector in the Vitebsk region's economy is growing.
– Today, one-fifth of the budget is formed by small and medium-sized businesses, and the volume of revenue and the share are increasing every year. Business representatives independently create enterprises, jobs, and pay taxes. We just need not to interfere. If there is a lack of understanding in any district executive committee, let the entrepreneur contact us; we will support any initiative, – suggests Nikolai Nikolaevich.
Qualitatively New Kilometers
Repair and reconstruction of almost a thousand kilometers of roads in the Vitebsk region will be carried out within the framework of the State Program for the Development and Maintenance of Roads in the Republic of Belarus for 2017-2020.
Nikolai Sherstnev considers the priority directions to be the roads leading to the Baltic border, as well as from the regional center to Orsha – today they do not meet modern requirements, and bringing them into compliance is a huge amount of work, especially since there are issues with funding sources.
Another problem is rural roads, and local authorities must also be involved in solving it. The condition of internal farm roads is deplorable, but there is not enough equipment to put them in order – as a rule, only 2-3 graders are allocated per district. And this issue, according to Nikolai Nikolaevich, also needs to be addressed.