Murtaza Rakhimov: integrated development of our villages is the real investment to our future

President of Bashkortostan Murtaza Rakhimov took the floor before the participants of the solemn meeting, devoted to the Day of agricultural and processing industry workers and held in Ufa Congress-Hall now. The short abstracts fr om his report are given below:

“Dear participants of the solemn meeting!

In accordance with the good tradition we are honoring the workers of agriculture and processing industry today and this holiday holds special place among many other remarkable events.

Deep attention to agriculture is the most important tradition of modern Bashkortostan and we may say this is the priority of our state policy.

Our Republic is different from many other Russian regions with its optimal combination of powerful industry and well-developed agrarian sector and I consider preservation and augmenting of our industrial and agricultural potentials the best achievement of our economic strategy.

Establishment of the Republican machine and tractor stations (MTS) has become the decisive factor. These MTS continued technical rearmament of our agrarian sector, providing the agrarians with the newest machinery and technologies. At the same time we pay attention to the enterprises, producing and mastering manufacturing of machines and equipment for agriculture, fertilizers and mixed fodders.

All our innovations are aimed at consolidation of Bashkortostan’s positions as one of the biggest granaries of the country.

Preserving and developing our villages we thereby preserve and augment the living roots of our multinational population, making serious endowment to improvement of the demographic situation and spiritual and moral revival of the whole of Russia. Practically this is the return of the irredeemable debts of the state to our peasantry, accumulated for many decades of half-free-of-charge labor of Russian villagers and reckless exhaustion of their resources. That’s why we build so many villages and bridges in the countryside, gasification and communication objects, clinics, schools and culture centers like nowhere else in Russia.

It will be no exaggeration to say that for the last two decades civilization really entered our agricultural regions, erasing the difference between urban and rural life. May rural objects look like in the cities now and we could just dream about it in the past!

We are happy that the federal authorities begin to pay more attention to Russian villages at the state level. The national project on support of agriculture received wide support. This is wise and very important decision, which once again proves the rightness of the course, chosen by us!

This year has become a hard trial for our agrarians and the global financial crisis, which struck the country, was supplemented with the complicated weather conditions. The state of emergency was announced in 48 of 54 Bashkir regions because of the drought.

Under such conditions the questions of food safety provision and stability in the internal food market became especially urgent. The state aid has played the decisive role. The budgets of all levels allocated 7 billion 900 million rubles in 2009 for support of the national agriculture or by nearly 12% more than in 2008! The means were directed to realization of the goal-oriented programs, cheapening of fertilizers, fuel and chemicals. Besides, we supported our pedigree cattle-breeding and seed-farming too. No wonder that even under these severe conditions our grain-growers managed to get the quite worthy harvest. The overall gross agricultural production volume made nearly 80 billion rubles for nine months 2009.

In all spheres of life our Republic is aimed at the leading positions in the country and by all important parameters we are found in the list of the most progressive Russian regions and it is enough to remind the results of the annual exhibitions “Golden Autumn” in Moscow and “Green Week” in Berlin, wh ere Bashkir agrarians are regularly rewarded with the highest awards

Dear friends!

Let me heartily congratulate all pacemakers with the high awards of the Republic and all comers – with your professional holiday!

I wish all of you strong health, well-being, happiness and every success in your generous labor for the good of our Republic and the whole country!”