The turkey will grow near Voronezh. The manufacturer wants to invest more than 4 billion rubles in breeding and processing

LLC "Don Turkey" of the deputy of the Voronezh Regional Duma Alexander Ilyin plans to expand the existing hatchery operating in the Kashirsky district to the production of a full cycle. For 4.2 billion rubles. the company intends to build a second-order breeding reproducer, as well as a slaughterhouse and facilities for deep processing. The authorities of the region expect that the project will cover up to 50% of the demand of the domestic market for hatching eggs. Experts agree with this assessment, but note that the payback of the project will greatly depend on state support.

On plans to invest 4.2 billion rubles by 2024 Voronezh Governor Alexander Gusev was told about the expansion of turkey production yesterday by the owner and general director of Donskaya Turkey Alexander Ilyin. In 2020, the company launched for 320 million rubles. hatchery with a capacity of 5.5 million eggs per year. Specialists have achieved "85% of the output and the receipt of 4.6 million turkey poults per year", they are supplied to four regions of Russia and Belarus, Mr. Ilyin emphasized. Now the company has decided to expand the project. The second stage involves the construction of a breeding reproducer of the second order with a capacity of 12 million hatching eggs per year. The cost of this line is estimated at 2.1 billion rubles, including 250 million rubles. for the technical re-equipment of the feed mill. The project is planned to be implemented in 2021-2022. The third stage with a similar investment is planned for 2022-2024. It provides for an increase in the capacity of the breeding reproducer, the construction of a slaughterhouse and the creation of deep processing of turkey meat. More detailed parameters of the last stage are not disclosed.

Following the meeting between Mr. Ilyin and Gusev, the government of the region reported that the implementation of the Donskoy Turkey project would cover up to 50% of the Russian market’s need for hatching eggs: “Now the need is estimated at at least 25 million pieces per year, of which 70-80% from Europe, USA , Canada. The launch of a breeding reproducer of the second order “opens up prospects for the future localization of grandparental turkey flocks in Russia”, and the cost of a domestic hatching egg may be 20% lower than an imported one.

The Ramon Turkey project was announced in 2011, then changed owners and parameters; in its latest version, it is planned to produce 7 thousand tons of duck and turkey meat products per year. However, we are talking primarily about processing, and not breeding poultry. The start of production was planned for December 2020, but the start of production was not reported. In 2013, CJSC AIC Chernozemya Turkey, with the support of the structures of businessman Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, planned to build a complex for growing turkeys in the Bobrovsky district for 12.7 billion rubles. with a capacity of 45 thousand tons per year, but the project was never implemented.

According to Agrifood Strategies, the production of turkey meat in all farms of the Russian Federation last year amounted to about 330 thousand tons (in carcass weight) - 20.7% more than in 2019. The largest players are Damate (151.2 thousand tons of products, 46% of the market) with assets in the Penza and Rostov regions, Tambov Turkey (a joint project of the Cherkizovo group and the Spanish Grupo Fuertes, 49 thousand tons, 15% ), Tula " Krasnobor " (22.1 thousand tons, 7%).

Albert Davleev, President of Agrifood Strategies, considers the Voronezh project relevant for the current situation on the domestic market, but calls on the investor to carefully evaluate the payback. “The production of hatching eggs is not the most profitable part of the turkey business, unlike the fattening of birds for slaughter. Therefore, the return on investment will depend on how well the economics of the projects are calculated, whether the state is ready to support the company with loans from specialized banks, and how professional the staff who will manage the livestock. The final payback period will be determined by the specific terms of financing: the amount of funds, collateral, interest rates, debt repayment schedule and covenants,” says the expert. He recalls that “the maintenance of the parent stock of a turkey is expensive”: “The bird is large, requires special conditions of detention, high level of biosecurity, a lot of feed. It is technologically difficult to carry out artificial insemination. But the most important thing is the mandatory presence of many years of experience in breeding or industrial turkey breeding.

Mr. Davleev agrees that if the Don Turkey project is successful, it will be able to occupy a significant part of the market. According to him, there are now three parent flocks of turkeys in the Russian Federation: Aviagen Turkeys in the Penza region (produces 2.5 million eggs per year, plans to increase to 9 million), the complex of poultry farms of the Ruskom Group in the Omsk and Tyumen regions, the breeding division of Indyushkino yard" in the Rostov region (9 million eggs).

These three assets will be able to reach the planned capacity of 20 million eggs in two or three years. At the same time, Russia will need 50-70 million a year by 2024–2025,” says Mr. Davleev. “In this regard, the initiative of the Voronezh company is very timely.”

“Today, Russian companies, including the operating facilities of the Donskaya Turkey, work mainly on imported hatching eggs. It costs $2 a piece, and you need to order large lots a year in advance, ”the expert emphasizes.

Alora's chief analyst, Aleksey Antonov, estimates the payback of the investment project at seven to ten years, but only on the condition of "state support and subsidies." “A turkey costs two to two and a half times more than a chicken, so the payback estimate is based on rising living standards and consumer incomes. So far, it is clear that the payback will be long, ”the analyst states.