SHKLOV, 9 August (BelTA) – Setting up a major multi-unit agricultural enterprise in Shklov District has been suggested to Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko but he was in no hurry to make the decision. The matter was discussed among other things at a government conference hosted by the head of state in Shklov on 9 August, BelTA has learned.
Developing the agricultural holding company Kupalovskoye by merging OAO Aleksandriyskoye, ZAO ASB-Agro Gorodets, and OAO Shklov Butter Factory into the new integrated company is the idea. These three enterprises belong to the Belarus President Property Management Directorate.
Head of the Belarus President Property Management Directorate Yuri Nazarov said: “We suggest combining all of that into one structure. If you agree with it, the Property Management Directorate will take over Kupalovskoye. It will be enough initially. I believe that we will put together a multi-unit agricultural enterprise with rigid centralization. We have examined the experience of Agrokombinat Dzerzhinskiy in more detail. I like this structure very much. But we have yet to put together this structure. By concentrating resources, by optimizing resources we will have an effect just like that.”
Aleksandr Lukashenko wondered whether these enterprises can continue operating on their own the way they do now. He was assured that it is an option but it will not produce the desired effect.
“I cannot argue with that. I just want this merger not to originate from offices in Minsk. It needs to be analyzed from all sides. If you and the chairman of the district administration believe that it will produce results and we will keep proprietary meat-processing facilities busy here while giving the surplus to Orsha…” the head of state remarked.
After a number of details were thoroughly discussed, Aleksandr Lukashenko pronounced the following decision: “Let’s agree that you will think about the matter once again. And I’d prefer at least some doubts instead of one point of view. I don’t argue that we need to combine flows of raw materials. And we need to combine financial flows in some manner. Production, processing, retail. And if retailers get involved… We can definitely do it in Belarus. Well, Russia will buy this product from us. Manufacturing is the key. We need to get the most out of it.”
At present OAO Aleksandriyskoye is the largest enterprise in Shklov District with versatile business interests. The availability of in-house processing facilities is its peculiarity at present. It is the key factor of development of agribusiness production today. These processing facilities need modernization and new ones need to be created. In addition to the reconstruction and modernization of existing manufacturing facilities there are plans to build a new milk-processing plant.
The second key task is to provide the animal husbandry complex with proprietary fodder and to provide all the processing facilities of the company with guaranteed amounts of raw materials.
The president was informed that at present Shklov District enterprises (participants of the agricultural holding Kupalovskoye, OAO Aleksandriyskoye, ZAO ASB-Agro Gorodets, and OAO Shklov Butter Factory) trade in products and raw materials with each other but each of them is primarily focused on satisfying its own needs. Merging these enterprises into one integration structure has been suggested. The resource potential of this multi-unit agricultural enterprise will be impressive: the area under crops will be nearly 43,000 hectares or 59% of the area owned by Shklov District agricultural enterprises.
The merger of these enterprises into one structure is expected to allow meeting virtually the entire demand of the animal husbandry industry with forage of proprietary make, including cereals, initially by 2028 after the area under crops is optimized. The problem of supplying the meat-processing division of OAO Aleksandriyskoye and the new milk-processing plant with guaranteed amounts of quality raw materials will be resolved.
If Aleksandr Lukashenko backs the proposal, the new integration body is supposed to be set up in two stages. During the initial stage in 2024-2028 the agricultural holding company Kupalovskoye will be taken over by the Belarus President Property Management Directorate and OAO Aleksandriyskoye, ZAO ASB-Agro Gorodets, and OAO Shklov Butter Factory will become part of it.
Later on during the second stage a vertically oriented structure will be established that will operate as a single process flow for making and selling agribusiness products with a high added value.
Participants of the government conference also discussed ways to resolve the housing shortage problem for the sake of personnel retention of the multi-unit agricultural enterprise. Overall efforts to sort out all the agricultural enterprises and improve their performance were also discussed.
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