Alexander Nikonov All-Russian Institute of Agrarian Issues and Informatics[Сельские Кооперативы: Цели Прежние, Проблемы Новые]

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 three-level 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 agro-industrial 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.