Germans are to invest 35 Mio Euros in a biodiesel production plant in Volgograd region

Volgograd Holding “RusAgroProject” has made an agreement with Abako Menedgment & Corporation Gmbh for financing and development of the project of the biodiesel producing plant. Cost of the project is estimated at 35 Mio Euros. Experts evaluate the project as risky.

German company Abako Menedgment & Corporation Gmbh and Volgograd ZAO “Tersa-Oil” (a subsidiary of ZAO “RusAgroProject”) have signed an agreement concerning rapes processing and biodiesel production.

The plan foresees investment of 35 million Euros into construction of the plant till 2011, power of the production site is projected at 160 tons of raw material processing per year and production of 60 thousand tons of biodiesel and up to 100 thousand tons of oil meal.

Company hopes to profit from the biofuel market growth in Europe, citing the EU directive concerning increase in biofuel use in EU countries up to 5,75 percent by 2010.

According to the president of the Russian National Biofuel Association, Alexei Ablaev, Europe is expecting Russia to be exporting raw materials, and not the fuel. The expert forecasts difficulties with finding the customer due to the fact that in Russia there are no considerate customers, and European producers shall win the competition due to high production cost of the Russian plant.

The leading expert of the Institute of market conditions and agrarian market Constantin Kuchugin has noticed that today there is no acting biodiesel producing plant.

Source:"Kommersant-Volgograd" (www.skavkaz.rfn.ru)