Four years after the start of privatization, a group of farmers in Karmaskalin region of the Bashkir republic, hankering after the good old days of communism, have re-established their collective farm -- or kolkhoz, a spokesman for the group said Wednesday.


Semyon Voskoboinikov said the high costs and inefficiency of most private farms in the region had forced the farmers to take this step.


"We have had enough of independent farming. It is impossible to endure the present conditions," said Voskoboinikov.


"We cannot get reasonable credits from the bank. The prices for agricultural machinery are just fantastic. It is impossible to sell our produce at a profit," he said.


"People are just tired. They want at least a minimum guaranteed living standard rather than nothing," he added.


The Agidel kolkhoz was founded in 1968 on the basis of the collectivized system started by Stalin in the 1930s.


At the end of 1991, when Russia began reforming its agriculture, collective farms were given the choice between staying as they were or forming joint-stock companies owned by the farmers themselves.


Agidel chose the second way and was transformed into dozens of joint-stock companies.


Raim Faizulin, deputy head of the private farmers' association in the Bashkir capital, Ufa, said the new reorganization followed a general decline in the number of private farms in the region.


"Russia's initial burst of enthusiasm for private farming died, mostly due to difficulties in obtaining land and equipment. What happened to Agidel is quite normal in the present situation. Farmers simply cannot make a profit," he said.


"First they have too little land. According to the law the farmer can leave the kolkhoz with 4 -12 hectares. And this is almost nothing. Second, the banks' interest on credits are absurd for the agricultural sphere - 200% per year," he said.


According to Faizulin, even if a farmer managed to overcome the difficulties and bring in a harvest he would be unlikely to get paid by the government in time.


"A farmer can sell his produce in August, but wait until the following June to be paid. This has become standard practice. For a farmer this is a total disaster. State collective farms are in the same situation but big enterprises have enough resources to survive."


"In the collective farms half of the people were working and half sleeping. It was much more comfortable," Faizulin said.


"It is quite understandable that now, under economic crises people prefer the guaranteed living standards of the old system."