Deputy Head of Sverdlovsk Region Government and Minister of Agriculture and Food Sergey Chemesov organized a press conference on May 3, 2007 to brief the reporters on the seasonal activities.

According to the spokesperson for the Ministry, the regional government has been paying special attention to providing farmers and workers with enough equipment for the sowing season. 248.8 million RUR have already been allocated from the federal budget, which is 2.5 times better than a year earlier, so people can use the additional 165 tractors and 214 tillage machines this spring.

The whole process is estimated to require 12,000 tons of diesel fuel and 4,200 tons of petrol worth 220 million RUR altogether, although the Ministry has 4,490 tons of diesel fuel and 1,130 tons of petrol in stock. In addition, farmers will be compensated for their fuel expenses with 92.3 million RUR directed from the federal budget; this should make up for 37% of the money they’ll spend.

The Ministry hopes to use 460,000 hectares for crops this year, which is to exceed the figures for 2006 by 20,000 hectares, or 4.5%, even though the three-week sowing campaign will have to be put off by ten days because of bad weather.