Companies@UA: База компаний Украины

Kyiv, July 30 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Ukrainian government plans to allocate UAH 390 million to National JSC Ukragroleasing to buy machinery for farmers starting from August, Ukrainian Premier Yulia Tymoshenko has said.

"Starting in August, we can give funds, and UAH 390 million will be sent to buy farming machinery via Ukragroleasing," she said at a meeting for the development of the agricultural engineering in Kyiv on Thursday.

Tymoshenko said that machinery bought by Ukragroleasing would be delivered to farmers on leasing conditions with low interest rates.

She also said that the cabinet is ready to allocate the funds for the needs of the state company.

The premier said that a new concept for the use of the above-mentioned funds to bolster production and sales of agricultural machinery that farmers need most of all would be drawn up at the Thursday meeting. She also said that she does not want the funds to be spent to bolster companies that produce out-of-date machinery.

Tymoshenko also said that it is necessary to draw up a state targeted program on switching to new technologies and producing new machinery over the coming three-five years.

Agriculture Minister Yuriy Melnyk, in turn, said that the ministry is ready to draw up the said program. He said that since the start of 2009, Ukragroleasing has received some UAH 47 million from the special fund of the cabinet, and bought 196 units of machinery, almost all of which were supplied to farmers on the leasing conditions.

Melnyk said that machinery was bought from Kherson Mechanical Plant, Kharkiv Tractor Plant, Ukragrozapchastyny and Yuzhmash.