August 15 2007, 10:26

Hortex Is Examining Closely Voronezhska Oblast

Yesterday Voronezh vice-governor Leonid Selitrennik let us know that Polish company Hortex considers a possibility to allocate a plant dealing with potato freezing with capacity of 25 thou. tons a year in the region. The volume of investments varies from $ 5 to 10 m, according to Kommersant , .

In the market participants opinion, the main problem of this project implementation can become lack of adequate raw material base - up to 90% potatoes in the region are grown by private enterprises, whose products does not meet freezing bexause of its quality.

As vice-governor Leonid Selitrennikov who monitors the economic sector at the yesterday's press-conference, Hortex is considering several subjects of Federation to build a plant for freezing potatoes with annual capacity of 25 thou. tons, but it "inclines to Voronezhska Oblast." According to Mr. Selitrennikov's words, the region's strength is availability of serious raw material base. In accordance with oblast administration data, about 960 thou. tons of pottoes is grown on the territory of 96.4 thou. hertars. The officeial noted that representatives of Hortex Co have visited five rural regions aiming at finding a good site to start-up construction.

Yesterday, in Russian Representation, Hortex refused to disclose information regarding building a plant in Russia. As Leonid Selitrennikov remarked, Hortex's intentions are analogous to the "Murator" Ltd' s project to build in Belgorodska Oblast a complex suite to process, blanch, freeze and pack vegetables with capacity of about 20 thou. tons of produces a year and cost of $ 4-5 m.

First Hortex's intentions in Russia were divulged at the end of last year. As Tomash Kulish, general director of the Company proclaimed, construction of the enterprise can take two or three years. First it is planned to arrange production of packaging materials, second, - lines for product processing. The well-informed market participants suggested the $ 5-10 m amount of investments depending on the completeness of the production cycle.

As to Edward Bahirian, general director of Association of ice-cream and frozen products producer's mind, Hortex's plan fall well into market patterns and trends. Demand for frozen vegetables, including potatoes, has grown recently by 25-30% a year (now their total volume of consumption in Russia reached 140-150 tons). Domestic producers began to expand capacities intensively to replace imports whose share is now high enough, accounting for more than 70%. The most notable foreign players are Hortex, Bonduelle, Ardo, Frosta, Bauer, Unifrost; Russian companies - "Ledovo" ("Snozhana" trademark), refrigerated house "Zapadniy" ("4 Seazons"), "Elikom" ("Elikom"), Scientific Prodeuction Association "Rostok" (Rostok"). The most ambitious project announced this year is building in Sverdlovska oblast a suite "Russkaya Zima = Russian Winter" to produce, process, and freeze of vegetables with capacity of 50 thou. tons a year and cost of Ruble 800 m.

However, market participants' attitude to Hortex intentions is rather sceptical. Il'a Novohatskiy, representative of "Myratorg", is sure that Poles will face problems with raw materials: special sorts of potatoes are necessary to freezing,whose selection will take at least five years. In Voronezhska oblast, up to 90% of potatoes are grown in private enterprises, whose products do not meet the requirements. At the same time, the Moscow agroholding "Malino" has recently come to the region, which is willing to buy 15 thou. hectars of land in Verhnemamonskiy region to grow potatoes primarily according to modern technologies. As Anna Oleinik, vice general director, explained, "Malino" considers the possibility to produce potatoes for freezing in the region. It is worth adding that a great potato project was declared in the region at the beginning of 2004: McCain Foods Ltd, .the Canadian firm manufacturing foodstuff, intended to build a plant to produce frozen potato semi-finished product with capacity of 40-50 thou. tons. This project have not been implemented because of bureaucratic protractions.