Head of Sverdlovsk Region Government Viktor Koksharov reports that the agricultural production output only grew by 1.5% in the first half of 2007, which couldn’t be seen as really great. According to Mr. Koksharov, offering loans to farmers could also be faster as well as be done on a larger scale. He also suggested that Sverdlovsk Region Ministry of Agriculture and Food should reconsider its managerial practices.

These issues were discussed in the course of a meeting devoted to assessment of the implementation of top priority national projects and demographic policies.