There is another hype on the Internet - Russia is ready to lease to China about a million hectares of agricultural land in the Far East.
As usual, there was a flurry of comments - “ah-ah-ah, they knew, they SOLD the Far East all the same to the Chinese. Well, that's it now …"
But what is it really?
Well, actually, this is so far only a proposal, which was announced by the investment director of the Far East Agency for attracting investments and supporting exports, Valery Dubrovsky.
However, the intentions are really serious.
According to him, the land will be open to foreign investors, and Russia is mainly counting on the demand from Chinese farmers who may be interested in growing soybeans, wheat and potatoes.
A number of Chinese companies have already expressed their interest, they can get about half of all exposed land, another 25% can go to investors from Japan and South Korea.
Promotional video:
Why do you have to take such a step?
It must be admitted frankly that it is difficult to attract its population SO MASSIVELY to cultivate such a huge amount of land. Who will leave the European part of Russia and go to deal with the land so far? Yes, even in the central part of our country there is still not enough land with abandoned villages.
And so already under the program of "Far Eastern Hectare" a lot of land was distributed to the Russians for free. But in my opinion, it would be possible to give more, for example, 10 hectares for free. But then, as always, questions and concerns about abuse and all that.
You understand that not so many people go willingly to these lands, no matter how many hectares for free.
And the Chinese will come.
Chinese farmers are already actively leasing crops under lease agreements and other temporary agreements. The best lands are already exploited by local farmers, while new ones are likely to be located in remote and unproductive areas.
True, there are also fears, where can we go without it. Everyone acknowledges that there is political resistance from local residents in the Far East - they are concerned about the large influx of Chinese workers and working methods such as using too much pesticides and fertilizers.
And on top of that, of course, no one notices the word “for rent” and continues to vote “sold”.
What do you think, is it necessary to give an opportunity to LEASE land in the Far East for Chinese farmers?