OREANDA-NEWS. July 11, 2013. Chairman of the Board of Directors of Cherkizovo Group Igor Babaev held a working meeting with Head of Altai Republic Alexander Berdnikov. During the meeting, they discussed the position of the agroindustrial complex in Altai Republic and the industry’s future and potential.

Mr. Berdnikov noted that the region’s agricultural sector was experiencing the same problems as a number of other federal regions, such as a slump in production due to a lack of investors, and the fact that most businessmen still do not consider it a profitable sector.

“Today the government of the region has a direct interest in attracting large investors to the agroindustrial complex, since agricultural development is one of the priorities of the republic’s leadership. This is especially the case for meat processing. According to the socioeconomic development strategy for Altai Republic to 2028, raw material processing is one of the key objectives in developing the region’s agroindustrial complex. The proposal to build a meat processing complex in Altai Republic has our full support, since it will create new jobs and increase tax revenues to the budget,” Mr. Berdnikov said.

In turn, Mr. Babaev emphasized that Cherkizovo Group had chosen the strategy of building large-scale agroindustrial clusters in close cooperation with regional governments: “We are constructing a turkey breeding facility in Tambov jointly with a Spanish company, and in Lipetsk Region we have built commercial pig farming from the ground up. We also have a huge, modern integrated poultry production and processing complex under construction. We are ready to find new markets and new opportunities. Cherkizovo Group has unrivalled experience in successful livestock breeding in Russia.

The company is ready to consider developing a special-purpose selective sheep breeding cluster in Altai Republic. We see the republic as a very promising region for this project. The climate of the republic is very well suited to livestock breeding. It’s like the Russian Alps in a sense. The high altitude and variety of forage will give our meat a taste and aroma that will make it stand out from lamb from other Russian regions and around the world. It is absolutely unfair that New Zealand and Australian lamb dominate the Russian market today, while vast areas of our country lie unused. Our goal is to not only make Altai lamb competitive on the world market, but to make it the world’s best tasting, highest quality product. Specialists from Cherkizovo Group will soon be leaving for Altai Republic to assess the prospects for the project on site.”