The third stage of the greenhouse complex was put into operation by one of the regional leaders in the production of vegetables and potatoes – Orbita-Agro LLC.
Governor Anton Alikhanov took part in the opening ceremony.
The new closed ground complex is located on 4.5 hectares. Thus, the total area of the Guards Greenhouses, which produce tomatoes, cucumbers, green crops and seedlings year-round, has exceeded 10 hectares.
Now several varieties of tomatoes are grown in the new industrial greenhouse. According to the forecast, the launch of this production site in 2022 will provide an additional gross harvest of greenhouse vegetables in the amount of 2.8 thousand tons. The increase in production compared to the level of 2021 will be 40%.
As Anton Alikhanov noted, thanks to the efforts of the Orbita-Agro company, the Kaliningrad region is provided with vegetables by almost 70%.
“We are trying to systematically support the agricultural industry and specifically this enterprise. In addition to the funds provided by the Ministry of Agriculture, we subsidize part of the capital costs for the construction of the greenhouse. Last year, the Orbita-Agro company was able to participate in a competition for lending to businesses located in the eastern municipalities as part of our Vostok program, and received 50 million rubles at one percent per annum for 10 years, and due to this, it was able to of our complexes to make an additional lighting system, which allows us in the region to be fully provided with cucumbers out of season, – Anton Alikhanov noted. “We discussed the need to continue our assistance to this business in order to have tomatoes out of season, including to reduce their cost.”
“I think the new queue is not the limit. We will increase the area of greenhouses to 20 hectares. There are all the prerequisites for this: a great desire, we also count on the support of the regional government, – said the director of the company Shaig Mammadov. – This year, 7,300 tons of products will be grown in our greenhouse complex: 2,800 tons of tomatoes, 3,550 cucumbers, 500 tons of eggplant, 500 peppers, 150 tons of strawberries. At the request of the regional government, we will increase the area sown with potatoes and harvest about 14,000 tons of potatoes this year. I would like our products to be on the showcases of retail chains.”
“In 2014, with the annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol, the renaissance of agriculture in our country began in many ways, and the Kaliningrad region did not stand aside from this process. Now we face new challenges. But we treat this not just as sanctions, but precisely as challenges, tasks that we need to solve. I’m sure we can handle them. We have already agreed on the construction of new greenhouses: more than a hectare for a special complex for seedlings and the largest indoor greenhouse in the region with an area of 6 hectares, which will provide us with eggplants, peppers, and various greens,” Anton Alikhanov said.
In addition to expanding production capacity, the governor drew attention to the responsible attitude of the company’s owners towards the workforce, which consistently fulfills its obligations to increase salaries to employees.
