MOSCOW. April 30 (Interfax) - The development of the Russian agrarian sector is being slowed by Russia's commitment to comply with some of the terms advanced by the World Trade Organization, Agriculture Minister Alexei Gordeyev said.

"Agricultural production growth and the development of agricultural regions slowed after Russia began implementing the WTO terms," the minister told a meeting of the central committee of the international agricultural lending confederation in Moscow on Monday.

"Several standards exist and unfair trade in agricultural produce is practiced in the World Trade Organization," he said.

Produce coming from industrialized states, primarily the United States and the European Union, accounts for 70% of Russia's imports. "In those countries support for agriculture and exports is several times stronger than in Russia. In fact Russian agriculture has long been based on market and liberal trade principles," he said. Russia must insist in talks with the WTO that trade become fair, Gordeyev said.

Speaking about the system of loans for agriculture, Gordeyev said that Rosselkhozbank, which has increased the extension of loans to agriculture eight times over the past two years, is the key element here. "We would have failed to attain good results in agriculture without this bank," he said.

The production of meat grew by 5% in Russia last year, the negatve trend in the production of milk was broken and 1% growth was posted. Small businesses were expanding operations, setting up 2,000 consumer cooperatives last year, the minister said.

Rosselkhozbank extended 170,000 credits in 2006, including to owners of private holdings. "This year's target is 200,000 credits as a minimum," he said.

Gordeyev read out Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov's greetings to the central committee meeting. "The development of Russia's agriculture and related industries implies a growing inflow of financial resources," Fradkov wrote. "We are open for cooperation with foreign banks, and international financial organizations and companies operating in agriculture," he wrote.