Ovchintseva L.A. Rural cooperatives: Same goals, new problems // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2017. V.2. №2. P.  121-141.

DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2017-2-2-121-141

Annotation

The article considers the development of farmer cooperatives for processing and marketing of agricultural products. The article is based on the federal and regional statistical data and on the expert interviews conducted by the author with the heads of farms and cooperatives, managers of regional and municipal agribusiness, specialists of auditing unions, cooperation development funds, cooperative unions and other institutions supporting the development of соoperation. The survey was conducted in 2016 in four regions of the Russian Federation—Lipetsk, Penza, Moscow and Kaluga, mainly among cooperatives processing fruits, vegetables, meat and dairy products. The situation in the Lipetsk Region is particularly interesting due to the threelevel system of cooperation support: by rural settlements, by districts and by the regional government. The author also describes the influence of district agencies of the Pensa Region on small business. The forms and methods of cooperation support by the regional agroindustrial complex are described on the basis of the author’s research data, which allowed to identify the key difficulties of the farmers that decided to create cooperatives. The article presents the most illustrative quotes from the interviews confirming the lack of access to financial resources, the variability of the state policy considering farmer cooperatives, the imperfection of legal regulation of cooperation, the administrative pressure on cooperatives and small and medium business, the insufficient development of distribution networks and rural infrastructure, and some subjective factors.

Keywords

rural cooperation, factors of cooperatives’ development, cooperatives in the Russian regions, cooperative system in Lipetsk, Penza Agency for the development of cooperation, Kaluga cooperatives, cooperatives in the Moscow Region

About the author

Ovchintseva Lyubov A., PhD (Economics), Senior Researcher, Department of Sustainable Rural Development and Rural Cooperation, Alexander Nikonov All-Russian Institute of Agrarian Issues and Informatics. 21–1, Bolshoi Kharitonievski per., Moscow, 105064, Russia.
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