Credit cooperatives are an important component of financial and credit system of agriculture. Worldwide, more than half a cooperative financial institutions to successfully undertake an economic activity in its various manifestations. Range of organizations - from the underdeveloped cooperative mutual aid organizations, whose members pool their savings to provide each rugu urgently needed loans to the modern cooperative banking systems that offer their members and clients a comprehensive program of financial services in a professional manner  heartland credit union .

With all the differences in the details of organization, based on international experience, we can highlight features common to all successful developing cooperative financial systems. They work on common cooperative principles:

- Self-help, self-management and personal responsibility;
- Belong to members, are private organizations that pursue the goals of social and economic development of rural areas;

- Have a decentralized organizational structure, directly approached to its members (8, p. 57).

As demonstrated by the International Conference on Credit Cooperation, held September 25, 2001 in Moscow, in a number of regions in the last ten years in the process of creation of regional and local credit cooperative organizations, despite unfavorable general framework conditions. One example is called Volgograd, Leningrad, Novosibirsk, Perm, Saratov and Yaroslavl. These regions continue the tradition of credit cooperatives in the XIX., Which successfully developed, but were eliminated early in the last century.

Since 1993. Noticeably stepped up efforts to develop rural credit cooperatives in. Most intensively developing rural credit cooperatives in the southern regions of the country. So, today, the share of the Southern Federal District has 36.4% of the total number of rural credit cooperatives in the Federation, the Volga economic - 16.5% Siberian - 21.2%, Central ¬ - 7,3%, North West - 5, 8% of the Ural - 8.3%, Far East - 10.7% (32, p. 82).

At present, the rural credit cooperatives dominated by various small-scale agricultural producers. This study confirms the 26 rural credit cooperatives, conducted by the Foundation of Rural Credit Cooperatives in 2003. in different regions. Thirteen of them among their members dominated country (farmer) economy, in 6 - family farms, in 2 - agricultural associations, other cooperatives were mixed membership.

The analysis of rural credit cooperatives have shown that some of them - it's stable financial structure, with significant net worth, create a reserve fund and the growing volume of financing of its members. According to the Development Fund for rural credit cooperatives, only in 2002. rural credit cooperatives of the country for their own and borrowed funds were granted loans totaling $ 500 million

Studies have shown that regional systems formirovanie credit cooperatives is only in those regions and republics, where normalnye established relationships with the local authority - it Volgograd, Rostov, Saratov, Perm, Tomsk, Vologda, Yaroslavl, Moscow Region, the Republic of Mari El, Chuvashia, Udmurtia. In these regions, credit cooperatives incorporated as a component in the socio-economic development of the village. In a number of subjects of the Federation of special programs of rural credit cooperatives, which indicated that a system of rural credit cooperatives will be a process of recovery of the investment process, the development of small-scale production, entrepreneurship and improving rural livelihoods. They identified the following main tasks of rural credit cooperatives  heartland credit union  :

1. Creation and maintenance of institutional, economic and social conditions for the formation and development of effective self-financing mechanism of small and medium agribusiness;
2. Provision of agricultural producers, entrepreneurs, rural access to credit;
3. Expanding the range of financial services to rural residents.
4. The creation of new jobs through business development and expansion of business entities;
5. Information support rural business;
6. Building on rural credit cooperatives of production and consumer cooperatives;
7. Implementation through the credit cooperative programs on housing in the countryside.

Leader in the development of rural credit cooperatives is the Volgograd region. It operates a two-tier system of rural credit cooperatives. In 2003. in the region operated 41 regional credit cooperative (level 1), which were combined in the regional agricultural credit consumer cooperative "Commonwealth" (level 2). Many areas of rural credit cooperatives have their offices in villages and hamlets.
 
System of rural credit cooperatives of a total of 10.5 thousand unites members. The share of credit cooperatives Volgograd region accounts for about half of all members of the rural credit cooperatives. The system of credit cooperatives Volgograd region quickly and dynamically. In 2001. through a system of rural credit cooperatives Volgograd region issued loans worth 136.9 million rubles., in 2004. 341 million rubles. In total, through credit cooperatives in the region for the period 1996 to 2004. granted loans amounting to 663 million rubles. These funds helped сельскимтоваропроизводителям solve many production problems. So, in 2004, the regional system of rural credit cooperatives were provided with financial assistance to peasant (farmer) households in the amount of 94.1 million rubles., Representing 54.1% of total loans, including current production needs - 65 , 8 mln., and 8.3 million rubles. was directed to the purchase of fixed assets. Means of rural credit cooperatives have helped not only to solve production problems, but also social, as one of the activities of cooperatives Volgograd region is financial aid low-wage populations: seniors, students, disabled people, etc. In almost all cooperatives of the contracts with the Pension Fund. As a result, many of these categories of people have become members of credit cooperatives. They were awarded the contract to attract the savings on favorable conditions for them. This category of members of the cooperative had received preferential loans for consumer needs. To ¬ operatives helped the villagers to have gas supply of housing. On the example of the Volgograd region can be clearly seen that the rural credit cooperative - is an organization that not only promotes the revival of agriculture in the region, but also improves the quality of life of the rural population  heartland credit union