August 18, 2010

Russia's Lukoil may invest in Belarus's new poultry plant

Belarusian authorities are in talks with Russian oil company Lukoil on an investment in the construction of a new poultry plant.

According to Agriculture and Food Minister Mikhail Rusy, an active effort is being made to obtain investment from a number of companies. The meeting focused on the government's 2011-15 development programme for the poultry industry.

A serious intention in this regard has been expressed by Lukoil, which is ready to consider investing in the construction of facilities with an output capacity of 100,000 tonnes. Companies in Syria have also expressed an interest in investing in the construction of a plant with a capacity of 20,000 tonnes. A total of 3.9 trillion rubles (US$1.3 billion) will be needed to implement the programme, with bank loans, companies' own funds and government funds to account for 85%, 13.5% and 2% of the amount, respectively.

The construction of a plant that would produce up to 12,000 tonnes of turkey meat has already begun under the programme with the assistance of Israeli investors. He also noted that the programme also provides for building an egg processing plant and a feed plant with a capacity of up to 20,000 tonnes.