The Belgorod Region has approved of construction of one of Russia’s largest greenhouse project of the Greenhouse company owned by Arkady Abramovich, son of tycoon Roman Abramovich.
The first, 5.93 billion ruble stage includes construction of 24 hectares of greenhouses until the end of 2017, which will allow the company to produce 19,300 tons of vegetables per year. Later, the facilities will be expanded to 108 hectares with projected capacity of 95,000 tons, a representative of the region’s development corporation, which oversees the project, said.
Mikhail Glushkov, executive director of the Russian food and vegetable union, said that the project’s total cost might be estimated at 20-25 billion rubles, and it might break even later than the standard seven to eight years as costs for heating and lighting will be higher in the Belgorod Region than in the south.
The government has already rented 191 hectares with utilities to Greenhouse for 49 years, and the company may later buy the land, the development corporation’s representative added.
Ilya Gamov, director for marketing and sales at Greenhouse Growth Technology, said that consumer demand for greenhouse vegetables had increased and was supported by counter-sanctions against European countries and Turkey. The government also provides significant support to greenhouse projects and reimburses 20% of their capital expenditures. (Prime/Business World Magazine)
