Belarus’ agricultural industry received around Br25 trillion in government subsidies in 2006-2010, Vice Prime Minister of Belarus Valery Ivanov said in an interview to the First National TV Channel.

The Vice Prime Minister stressed that every state provides support to farmers. In Belarus, its volume will be decreasing gradually.

According to Valery Ivanov, a decision has been adopted to abolish the fund to support agricultural producers. “There will be two areas of support, namely from the national and local budgets. Further development of the industry will have to rely on loans, investments and equity funds of agricultural companies themselves,” he said.

In 2006-2010 agricultural production in the country increased 2.5 times. Valery Ivanov noted that the agricultural industry reports “some profits, though they are small, but still it is not loss-making.” Only 17 out of 1,540 agricultural companies are loss-making. No doubt, there are big agricultural enterprises in Belarus that report the profitability of up to 30%.