OREANDA-NEWS. July 23, 2010. Basic Element's (BasEl) agriculture division, which was created following the transfer of Russo-Asiatic Investment Company (RAINKO - which managed Russian businessman Oleg Deripaska's assets) into Deripaska's holding, which plans to post 270 million rubles in profit compared to 143 million rubles in 2009, BasEl's managing director, Andrei Oleinik, told.

Sales revenue this year could increase by 500 million rubles to 5.7 billion rubles.

Oleinik said that the company's agricultural operations would focus on deep processing of production. "We have, for example, wheat, which could be sold and made money on," he said, adding "but there is a second way, it could be processing with a large profit".

BasEl plans to implement a project for building a slaughterhouse and plant for meat deep-freeze. "This is because two commercial milk farms came into operation in 2008, one with 1,500 head of cattle and a second as 1,300 head, as well as hog complex with 27,000 head," he said, adding "We plan to build a plant, which will supply produce to processing enterprises". The capacity and total investment in the new enterprises is currently being settled. The project will be realized with BasEl's own funds and loans, the ratio of which will come to 30 to 70.

In addition, the company, which has 7,500 head of milkcow, is mulling milk processing as an option. Oleinik stressed that this would include deep processing such as lactose group production.

The company also renewed a project for building a plant for deep processing of soy. "The facility has already been set up and around 60% of the necessary equipment has been acquired. All design work has been implemented, including scientific," Oleinik said, adding that the plant's first stage foresees the production of functional soy concentrate, which is widely used in food production as a vegetable protein.

"We plan to reach deeper processing during the second stage if everything works out alright, in bio and nanotechnology and the production of materials for the pharmaceutical industry," he said.

BasEl's agro-business operations are concentrated in the Krasnoyarsk Territory and represented by the agricultural holding Kuban, as well as the horse plant Voskhod and the company Akvadin.