President of the Republic of Croatia Ivo Josipovic Visited Kaliningrad and supported new investment projects By Produkty Pitania
— 2010-05-10 —

 On May 10 and 11, 2010 President of the Republic of Croatia Ivo Josipovic visited Kaliningrad and attended a number of meetings organized by the regional governor Georgy Boos. The key objective of the visit was to learn about the investment opportunities of the SEZ in Kaliningrad region and to support the investment projects administered by Produkty Pitania Company: opening ceremony introducing the preserved foods plant Gusev Preservation Combine LLC and laying the first brick for the construction of the Company’s bird breeding and processing mill.
Kaliningrad followed Moscow having become Russia’s second city visited by the recently elected head of Croatia.
«I am delighted that our cooperation is so dynamic here, in Kaliningrad, - said President of the Republic of Croatia Ivo Josipovic. – We take a positive attitude to fostering economic cooperation and mutual investment opportunities because this is the only way out of the crisis that has affected the whole of Europe. I am happy that Kaliningrad is a developing region and that Croatian investments are present here. It pleases me to see that Produkty Pitania has successfully implemented its projects on this land», - the President of Croatia told the journalists.
According to Ivo Josipovic, the top most promising areas of economic activities include cooperation in the development of the region’s food industry. Produkty Pitania serves as a good example of such cooperation being one of Russia’s major producers of frozen convenience foods branded under Zolotoy Petushok and Domashnaya Skazka trademarks.
The delegation from Croatia headed by the President Ivo Josipovic visited Produkty Pitania’s production facilities in Kaliningrad. In the past 12 years the Company invested $120 million and built a frozen convenience products plant capable of delivering 13,000 tons of products monthly.
Despite difficult economic conditions that prevailed in the country in the last eighteen months, Produkty Pitania Company continued implementation of its new investment projects. In February 2006 an investment agreement was signed with the Administration of Gusev City District of Kaliningrad region with the support from the Russian Minister of Agriculture A. Gordeyev and of the Governor of Kaliningrad Georgy Boos. From that date the Company began implementing its new investment project and completed construction of the preserved foods plant — Gusev Preserved Foods Combine LLC — to meet the growing demand of Russian consumers for high quality products meeting GOST standards, tinned beef to name one of the many preserved meat products.
President of the Republic of Croatia and Governor of Kaliningrad region participated in the opening ceremony for the first production line at Gusev Preserved Foods Combine LLC.
«Kaliningrad region offers numerous opportunities for the development of cooperation between Russia and Croatia. This is an attractive investment target», - Ivo Josipovic said after pressing the start button of the new production conveyor.
The investments in the preserved meat production project total $10 mln. The total land area occupied by the preserved foods plant in Gusev is 4.62 hectares. The floor area of buildings and infrastructure of the new plant in Gusev is 4,836 m2, and the floor area of production shops is 1,374.2 m2. The initial production plans include delivery of preserved chicken meat products in own juice, but even this year the plant will begin producing beef and pork products as well. The plant will employ 150 people.
Today the Company already sells chicken meat in own juice. Produkty Pitania’s share of preserved chicken meat market in 2009 was at about 2.3% - 3% of the total consumption of this kind of preserved products. The Company decided to generate its own production facilities targeting the expansion of the range of products it offers in view of the fact that the most recent trend points towards the growth in consumption of preserved meat products.
«We are commissioning the first line that will produce tinned chicken meat, pork and beef, — Produkty Pitania Company President Stefano Vlahovic informed the journalists. – Its design production capacity is 3.5 million cans per month, i.e. 42 million cans per annum. In 2011, we intend to install the second line and then we will almost double the output achieving 6 million cans of preserved meat per month, an equivalent of 72 million cans per year. This will allow meeting the demand for our products and cater to consumer’s need for high GOST quality products in all regions of Russia where we operate».
At the same time Gusev hosted the launch of a large scale project for construction of bird breeding and processing facility. This will mark the next phase of Produkty Pitania’s investment activities. The new project will involve the transition to the Company’s own raw materials base, which will be available following the launch of the large bird breeding facility.
President of the Republic of Croatia Ivo Josipovic took part in the first brick laying ceremony for the construction of the bird breeding and processing facility of Produkty Pitania in Gusev.
«It is an honor for me to lay the first brick in the foundation of the new facility. Firstly, I would like to emphasize that this is a major Croatian investment and it is truly very optimistic. This is a big contribution into our further cooperation. In addition, new workplaces will be made available. I hope that the number of such projects will multiply in the future», - said Ivo Josipovic. Croatia President expressed his appreciation to Georgy Boos for his support in implementation of the project, which will «serve for the benefit of both Croatia and Kaliningrad region».
The Governor of Kaliningrad region Georgy Boos expressed his hope that the «this first brick will soon turn into a full scale facility with bird houses, an incubator, processing and mixed feed shops as per the project design, and that this facility will develop and prosper for the benefit of the town of Gusev and its residents». The governor wishes that «all projects commenced by our friends would always go hand in hand with luck».
This large project envisages the transition of Produkty Pitania Company from imported to its own raw materials, diversified production, further expansion of product lines, and quality assurance in all phases of production from breeding feed to retail outlet shelves.
Investments in the project will total $350 million. The expected project completion term is 3 years from commencement of construction.
«In this way we will be able to fully meet our needs in raw materials for production of convenience products, which will help meet the demand for our quality products in the regions of Russia where we operate», - said Produkty Pitania President Stefano Vlahovic.