October 17, 2007

Russia to expand pork production

After having announced plans to boost poultry production last year and expand fishery production this year, Russia is now aiming to reduce pork imports by boosting domestic production.

One of the largest Russian meat producers based in St Petersburg, the Meatland Group, has announced that it will build a slaughterhouse in the Kursk region at a cost of US $72 million by the end of 2008. It will have a capacity to slaughter 250 pigs on an hourly basis.

Meanwhile, Meat Industry Company, based in Moscow, has announced that it is building a farm in Spring 2008 of 30 hectares with a capacity for 100,000 head. Investment at the plant is expected at 800 million roubles (US $32 million).

The farm would be located in the region of Orenburg, with production of 11,000 tonnes yearly, thus fully covering the needs of the company's plant, according to Andrei Yeriskin, general director of Meat Industry.