OREANDA-NEWS. Cherkizovo Group (LSE: CHE), Russia’s largest meat and fodder manufacturer, announced the successful completion of a project to double capacity in the Penza poultry cluster (Vasilyevskaya Poultry Factory). The project cost more than 4.5 billion RUB and boosted production capacity at the Vasilyevskaya Poultry Factory from 60,000 to 125,000 tons live weight per year, making Penza Region one of the country’s largest poultry producers.

The project involved the construction of a number of large facilities, including one of Europe’s largest hatcheries with capacity of more than 105 million incubation eggs per year, and the Vertunovka parent stock site with capacity of nearly 60 million incubation eggs per year. Poultry facilities in Kuznetsky and Bessonovsky Districts of Penza Region were also purchased and modernized.

By year end of 2013, the Vasilyevskaya Poultry Factory will have produced nearly 120 million incubation eggs and more than 55.7 million broilers.

“Cherkizovo Group has made a major contribution to replacing imports on the poultry meat market,” the company’s CEO Sergei Mikhailov said. “Our investments in doubling capacity in the Penza poultry cluster were part of this long-term process. We have not only increased output, but also created new jobs and achieved higher performance indicators, fodder conversion rates, stock liveability, and biological security. I would like to thank the Administration of Penza Region and Governor Vasily Bochkarev for their generous support in launching the project, Sberbank of Russia for providing financing for the project, and our many partners.”

“Vasilyevskaya Poultry Factory is the pride of our region,” Deputy Governor of Penza Region Vyacheslav Orel said. “Effective teamwork of the regional Administration and Cherkizovo Group in Penza Region has resulted in the start-up of new industrial facilities, modernization of a number of agro-industrial complexes, creation of direct and indirect jobs, and development of logistics infrastructure that integrates grain producers and processed meat product manufacturers. The government is committed to creating a favourable investment climate in Penza Region and is providing comprehensive support for companies investing in the agricultural sector.”