EAEU countries to launch mechanism of financial support for agrarians

The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) on Wednesday said it will extend the mechanism of financial support for cooperation projects to the agro-industrial sector.

According to the Ministry of Trade and Integration of Kazakhstan, the instruction to work on the relevant initiative was given by the heads of governments of the EAEU countries.

The ministry said the association had a mechanism for subsidising interest rates on loans issued for the implementation of joint cooperation projects.

Initially, it was focused exclusively on the industrial sector, but the heads of state and government of the EAEU had repeatedly stated the need to expand this tool, the ministry said.

According to the ministry, the priority areas of support include: crop breeding and seed production, sustainable development of livestock breeding, processing of agricultural products, and development of agro-industrial complex (AIC) infrastructure.

The ministry also said that the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) was working on updating the regulatory framework and developing a separate regulation that would set out the criteria for selecting projects and the conditions for obtaining funding.

It added that the results of the work would be presented at the next meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council.

According to the Ministry, the introduction of support mechanisms in the agro-industrial complex will allow Kazakh farmers to introduce modern agro-technologies and strengthen food chains.