June 22, 2007

Russia's Cherkizovo Group builds US$96.4 million pig farm

Russia's Cherkizovo Group has started building a 2.5 billion ruble (US$96.4 million) pig farm in the Voronezh Region, the chairman of the group's board of directors, Igor Babayev, said at the plant's groundbreaking ceremony Thursday (June 21).

The sources of financing for the construction include Cherkizovo Group's own funds and a loan from Russia's Russian Agricultural Bank, or Rosselkhozbank.

The pig farm will have an annual production capacity of 35,000 tonnes of pork and will open in October.

Cherkizovo Group is one of the largest vertically integrated meat processors in Russia. The group has eight meat processing plants, two bird farms, four pig farms, a poultry processing plant, and a feed meal plant.