Avangard plans to complete the construction of two egg factories in Khmelnitska and Khersonska, Ukraine by 2011 and reach a full capacity in 2012.

Each facility should consist of a three-million head poultry breeding factory, 40 million tonnes per day fodder plant and a biogas plant, with the combined project costs of US$450 million. According to the company management, the completion of the plants should allow Avangard to raise its eggs producing capacities by 35% to 6.5 billion eggs per year.

Any further increase in Avangard's output should imply growth of its export sales, given the current saturation of the Ukrainian egg market (average annual consumption of 320 eggs per capita at a biological norm of 280).

We see the European Commission's decision on the possibility of Ukrainian meat and eggs exports to the EU, to be announced this year, to play an integral part in Avangard's business strategy for 2012-14.