Requests for storage licensing for 2.3 million tons of grains

The Ministry of Agriculture announced on Friday that by July 30, it had received requests for storage authorizations for 2,310,000 tons of grains. According to a press release sent to our editors, the deadline for the submission of the applications with the ministry, for storage operators interested in securing grain storage licenses for 2009, is August 5th, 2009.

The Government recently passed the guidelines for the "First Grain Silo" program and set the requirements for obtaining the license for seeds for human consumption, and created the guarantee plan for silo certificates. According to Agerpres, the Executive will thus help farmers use the silo certificates as collateral for bank loans.

Obtaining a silo certificate can be done by submitting a written request to the Sole Office of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development. In order to obtain the silo certificate, farmers will deposit the seeds for human consumption in the licensed silo. In exchange for the deposited grain and at the request of the farmer, the licensed owner of the silo will issue silo certificates, which will represent a negotiable guaranteed credit instrument.

Farmers will be able to use the silo certificate as collateral for loans, or to sell the amount of grain recorded in on the commodities exchange, as an alternative to the direct sale of the grain.

The silo certificates will be guaranteed by the Guarantee Fund for Rural Loans (FGCR) and will be handed to the licensed silo operators, upon request based on the silo license. The Guarantee Scheme for Silo certificates will be managed by the FGCR. The silo certificate will be valid until the silo operator returns the goods, but no earlier than a year before its issuance.