Oilseed processing plant to open in Buryatia in March, products planned for export to China

ULAN-UDE. Jan 15 (Interfax) - Alliance+ LLC is implementing a project in the Medvedchikovo micro-district in the city of Ulan-Ude to build a plant for processing oilseeds, the press service of Buryatia's Agriculture Ministry said in a statement.

The first stage of the plant has already been built, and production of the first products of rapeseed and linseed oils is planned for March. Production capacity is up to 100 tonnes of raw materials per day.

The installation and launch of the second stage is planned for the end of 2024, though capacity has not been specified.

The ministry's press service has clarified to Interfax that about 200 million rubles have been invested at the first stage, and a similar amount of funds is planned for constructing the second stage.

"The idea to open our own oil production plant came after the borders were closed owing to the Covid-19 pandemic. We have been exporting crop products abroad for a long time, mainly to China. When we had already encountered certain problems after the introduction of restrictions, we decided to retrain and export finished products. Rapeseed and flaxseed oils, as well as other products from the processing of these oilseeds, are in great demand in China," Alliance+ LLC co-owner Sergei Ovchinnikov said in the statement.

Ovchinnikov said that the company planned to create full-cycle production by independently growing rapeseed and flax, as well as oats and barley; processing the crop at the plant; and exporting oil and related products, such as cake and meal. The plant will also initially use imported raw materials. Equipment for growing crops has already been purchased, and the investor plans this year to sow arable land totaling 5,500 hectares in the Mukhorshibirsky, Dzhidinsky, Bichursky, and Tarbagataysky districts, respectively.

Galsan Dareyev, Buryatia's Agriculture Minister, in turn said that Alliance+ LLC has modernized the existing vacant premises as part of the project. An agreement has also been reached with Russian Railways on constructing access roads directly to the plant.