March 14 2008, 09:13

Italian firm started constructing greenhouses in Kabardino-Balkaria

The construction of the greenhouses for vegetable production has started on the area of 30 ha on the territory of Baksanskiy district, Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria.

Massimo Lucchini, the Chief of Italian firm - contractor, told IA "RIA News" that the first greenhouses on the area of 10 ha will be constructed on the turn-key basis by December 2008; the producers will have the first harvest in March 2009.

"The technology of the soilless tomato production will be applied here - it let the producers grow the best quality products very efficiently, with the yield of around 450 tons per hectare".

At the present moment the subgrading takes place on the area of the first 10 hectares of the land plot allocated for the construction. "We need to replace around 100,000 of sq. meters of ground here. As soon as we subgrade a part of the territory, we will start laying foundation, and then the mounting and construction of the greenhouses will take place. I.e. there will be the nonstop working process", Mr. Lucchini said.

According to Tembulat Erkenov, the Minister of Agriculture and Food of the Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, the production volume of this greenhouse complex is expected to amount to RUR 500-600 mln./year. This sum is comparable to the profit generated today by all 300 ha of agricultural lands in Baksanskiy district of the Republic.

The contract for the greenhouse construction was signed by Baksanskiy district of Kabardino-Balkaria and Italian firm Idromeccanica LUCCHINI in January 2008. The project costs RUR 1 billion; the investors are "Agrokom" firm of Baksanskiy district and the department of Sberbank of Russia in Kabardino-Balkaria. The project will pay back in five years starting from the greenhouse launch. The contract terms also include the construction of the subsidiary plant - greenhouse constructor in the Republic.