Miratorg, McDonald's successor expand potato processing project in Oryol SEZ

ORYOL. Aug 15 (Interfax) - Agribusiness group Miratorg and Vkusno i Tochka, the successor of McDonald's in Russia, have expanded their project to build a potato processing plant in the Oryol Region, increasing planned investment to 17.5 billion rubles from 11.8 billion rubles, Governor Andrei Klychkov said on his Telegram channel.

Grand Fries LLC, the joint venture between Miratorg and the Vkusno i Tochka fast food chain that is carrying out the project, signed an agreement to this effect with the regional government on Tuesday.

"Thanks to the additional investment, the amount of finished product will increase by 20% to 120,000 tonnes per year. A line specializing in production of potato flakes will be added to the complex for production of French fries," Klychkov said.

The potato flakes will be used for subsequent production of chips and snacks, frozen convenience foods and baby food, and use in the bread baking industry and cooking.

Klychkov said construction on the project will begin in the third quarter of 2023 and the plant is scheduled to open in the second quarter of 2025, as previously planned.

The agreement to build the plant in the Oryol special economic zone (SEZ) was signed in June 2023 at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. Grand Fries will supply the plant's products to Vkusno i Tochka restaurants and other segments of the HoReCa sector. The plant will use specially selected varieties of potatoes grown by Miratorg.

The plant will be able to produce several types of finished product, including regular French fries, potato wedges, thick-cut fries and hashbrowns.