Sberbank of Russia’s Ural branch’s advances portfolio consisting of loans offered for private plot development came to more than 1 billion RUR this summer. The bank offered its customers over 1,600 such loans worth 310 million RUR in January-July 2008, the bank’s press officer reports.

This special loan offer was first launched by Sberbank in 2006 as part of the national agricultural development project. The offer’s primary advantage lies in the possibility of getting budgetary subsidies to pay a part of the interest on the loan.

‘Taking a loan from a bank makes a farmer’s work more efficient. Sberbank’s loan offer provides for the money a farmer needs to raise their agricultural output, get such essential things as electricity, water supply system, and heating, buy the necessary equipment, and so on,’ the press officer says.