The Russian Company JSC Meat Products and the Chinese company Hainan Tansini have signed an agreement to develop a new meat processing complex in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District of Russia. The Russian company will hold a 51% stake in the business, while the Chinese company will have a 49% stake, providing all the necessary equipment, technology and investments and undertaking the sale of the finished products.
The volume of the new plant is still not known, but preliminary forecasts from experts suggest the new complex could produce up to 20,000 tonnes (t) of finished meat products per year. Experts also estimate that investment in the plant could reach RUB5bn (US$167m).
The Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District is home to 680,000 reindeer, around one-third of the world’s population. It is also the base of the country’s only reindeer meat exporter, Yamal Reindeer, which last year exported 456t of reindeer venison to Germany and Finland.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the plant would provide a big boost to the Russian economy, with much of the production sent to the Chinese market.
“In the development of trade and economic relations with China, Russia has emphasised the need to significantly strengthen investment cooperation, including greater Chinese investment in technology for the processing of raw materials in our country. The planned project in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District falls into this category, while providing access to domestic products for the promising Chinese market and it is therefore worthy of support,” he said in an official letter.