“We are going to launch another 120 ha of greenhouses, increasing the productivity by 70 thousand tons. Thus, in 2019 we are planning to produce about 200 thousand tons. It is in our strategy to construct 500-550 ha of greenhouses by 2023”, said Eco-culture president Aleksandr Rudakov.
Currently Eco-culture owns about 200 ha of greenhouses, the annual production volume being 120 thousand tons. The investments in the greenhouse construction have comprised 676.85 million euros.
ECO-Culture is one of the largest producers of greenhouse vegetables in Russia. According to its own data, it manages complexes on 145 hectares with a capacity of over 100 thousand tons of tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce per year. Products are delivered in the X5 Retail Group network (Pyaterochka, Perekrestok, Karusel), Magnit, Billa, as well as to McDonald's restaurants. By 2023, the holding's greenhouse area should exceed 580 hectares.By 2023, the company is planning to have invested 1.59 billion euros in the greenhouse expansion. Financial indicators of "ECO-culture" are not disclosed. The main owners are Alexander Rudakov, Andrey Petrenko and Irina Ashinova.
According to Mr. Rudakov, return on investment should be achieved within 8 years. “At least 100 ha of the 500 ha of newly constructed greenhouses will be allocated for cucumbers. This will allow for a productivity of 100 thousand tons”, announced the head of the company.
“We are concentrating our efforts on tomatoes because at the moment we have a deficit of produce, there is a big volume of imported products present in the market, we are trying to replace imported produce. As for cucumbers, the market is close to saturation but the old greenhouses will be closing down. Their acreage amounts to 2 thousand ha and within 5-6 years half of them will become inefficient. We will be replacing them in this respect”, mentioned Mr. Rudakov.
Moreover, Eco-culture are planning to produce vegetables in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and China. With these countries, the acreage of greenhouse complexes owned by the company will have exceeded 1 thousand ha by 2023 according to their own estimate.
According to 2017 results, the share of vegetables produced by the agricultural holding comprised 5.4% of all Russian produce; the plan for 2023 is 30%.
In 2019, the company will open 5 distribution centers (currently there are three): in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Stavropol, Lipetsk and Chelyabinsk. By 2023, 8-10 distribution centers will have been opened, reported Mr. Rudakov.
Source: agroxxi.ru