Apart from Gordeyev, the ceremony was attended by Andrey Vorobyev, Governor of the Moscow Region, Igor Babaev, founder of Cherkizovo Group, Sergey Mikhailov, Cherkizovo Group's CEO, His Excellency Ignacio Ibanez Rubio, Spain's Ambassador to Russia, and other officials.

Cherkizovo Group, Russia's largest meat producer, is one of the companies forming the backbone of the national economy. It employs over 23,000 people and supplies millions of Russians with high-quality food.

With meat processing as one of its top priorities, the company is constantly making significant investments in capacity expansion and maintaining a focus on innovation. The ultra-modern smoked sausage plant in Kashira is a perfect example of that approach, the company said in its press release.
 

"The project went through a lot of modifications to finally materialise in this plant," Babaev said. "With nearly one million tonnes of meat produced last year, we are the leading player in Russia's meat industry. Now we are seeking to process produced meat at large-scale manufacturing facilities similar to the one we built in Kashira. Our ultimate goal is to boost meat exports so that Russia could once again claim its traditional role of the world's major food supplier."
 

According to Babaev, Cherkizovo is, in the near term, planning "significant investments" to move all its meat processing facilities from Moscow to the Moscow Region. 
 

The new plant will utilise cutting-edge technologies and unprecedented level of automation, Cherkizovo added. The production chain will be supported by robotic technologies.
 

"The plant has fully embraced the industry 4.0 philosophy, with a fine-tuned system of AI (artificial intelligence) and robotic interactions ensuring control over the entire production cycle. The facility uses the latest version of ERP software - SAP S4\HANA, which offers full automation of production, financial, procurement, planning and sales activities, and is maintained by a dedicated team of IT professionals and engineers," Cherkizovo elaborated.
 

The plant's total headcount stands at 170 people. It will employ technologies and equipment from Italy, Germany, Spain, Denmark, Austria, Czech Republic, the UK and Switzerland.
 

Cherkizovo revealed that the plant is expected to produce up to 30,000 tonnes of finished products per annum. The project's CAPEX already stands at around RUB7 billion (US$110.3 million).
 

With the facility put into operation, Cherkizovo Group will account for 30% of all smoked sausage produced domestically.
 

Reliance on innovations will further strengthen the company's competitive edge, enhance compliance with biosafety standards and improve the quality of its products.
 

- Cherkizovo