June 19 2008, 09:18

Russia: Ural mining-metallurgical company invests $33.7 mln. to tomatoes

Ural mining-metallurgical company (UGMK) invests RUR 800 mln. ($33.7 mln.) to the construction of the greenhouse complex of the CJSC "Teplichnoye" (which belongs to agri-industrial division of "UGMK-Agro" holding), the company press-release says. The construction of the complex started in August 2007 in the settlement Sadoviy (Yekaterinburg). "Kommersant" informs, the company plans to finish the first stage in August-September 2008; the project will be fully implemented in 2009. The company plans to have the first harvest by the end of this year. To achieve this goal, tomatoes will be planted on the acreage of 4 ha as soon as the first stage of the construction is finished. In total the greenhouse complex will occupy around 12 ha. The company plans to supply fresh vegetables to the trade outlets of Yekaterinburg and Sverdlovskaya region, and also to the federal chains "Auchan" and METRO.

CJSC "Teplichnoye" belongs to the largest vegetable producers in Yekaterinburg; it annually harvests more than 5,000 tons of field vegetables and 3,000 tons of the greenhouse vegetables. This enterprise joined Ural mining-metallurgical company (UGMK) in 2004. LLC "UGMK-Agro" was founded for the management of the agricultural assets in 2006. The sales profit amounted to around RUR 850 mln. in 2007; the profits of RUR 1.3 billion are forecasted for 2008.