Russian bank finances Cherkizovo turkey project

Financing for a major project of Russian food giant Cherkizovo Group, has been approved with assistance from Sberbank CIB.

The funds will be used to finance the company’s joint project with Spanish company Grupo Fuertes to construct a turkey meat processing and production plant in the Tambov Region.

The total amount of investment in the Tambov Turkey project is RUB 7.5 bln, with over RUB 3 bln jointly provided by Grupo Fuertes and Cherkizovo Group. The output of the project is estimated at 40,000 tonnes of turkey meat per year. The launch date of the plant is 2015.

Sergei Mikhailov, chief executive officer of Cherkizovo Group, commented: “This is Cherkizovo Group’s first international project which is being implemented in partnership with one of the leaders of the European poultry market. We are certain that the unique combination of European turkey farming experience and our Russian market experience — Cherkizovo Group owns the country’s largest and most successful frozen poultry brands such as Petelinka, Kurinoe Tsarstvo and Mosselprom — will enable us to execute our Tambov Region project on time and go on to occupy a leading position on the dynamically growing Russian turkey meat market. Cooperation with a reliable financial partner is essential if we want accomplish these goals. We are glad that Sberbank, with whom we have already carried out several successful projects, is that partner.”

Tambov Turkey is a landmark project because it involves Spanish company Grupo Fuertes, a leading European producer of turkey meat that possesses many years of experience in creating similar high-tech production facilities. The significant investment in this project is a testament to the development prospects of the Russian turkey meat market on the whole and foreign investors’ interest in high-tech Russian agriculture industry projects. This project to construct facilities for processing and producing turkey meat in the Tambov Region will help to considerably increase the volume of production of high-quality, nutritious poultry and make it more accessible to the Russian population.