More than two million chickens were placed in 56 new bird houses overseen by Governor Oleg Korolev.

The opening ceremony for the new facility was attended by Governor of Lipetsk Region, Oleg Korolev, Deputy Governor Nikolai Tagintsev, CEO of the Cherkizovo Group Sergei Mikhailov, Executive Director of Kurinoe Tsarstvo OJSC Sergei Sakhno, the head of Dankov District Vladimir Faleyev, and representatives of public organisations, business, government agencies, and the media.

Construction of the Novonikolskaya facility began in August 2012 and lasted for just over two years; more than 1.3 billion roubles (RUB) were invested in the project.

The bird houses are equipped with the latest technologies, using modern equipment and cutting-edge developments in the poultry industry. Construction was carried out with loans from CB Gazprombank OJSC for implementing the Eletsprom project.

More than 3,000 cement trucks were unloaded during construction on the site covering 93,000 square meters; nearly 17,000 cubic metres of masonry were completed, 12,000 pre-cast concrete elements were installed, and about 5km of paved road and 110km of utility lines were laid. The 2015 budget of Lipetsk Region will receive nearly RUB3 million from the Novonikolskaya payroll.

Governor Korolev said during the event: "In 1990, Lipetsk Region produced 29,500 tonnes of poultry meat by heroic labour. Today, we achieve these amounts at only one facility. This shows that we have chosen the right investment policies for agriculture and are able to implement projects to supply poultry meat in both our region and up to six neighbouring regions.”

CEO of Cherkizovo Group, Sergei Mikhailov, thanked the region's leaders for their strong support for the project and talked about the company's future plans for expanding poultry production.

"This is not our first project in the region. In opening the new broiler facility, which will produce 28,000 tonnes of meat per year, I would especially like to thank the government of Lipetsk Region represented by Oleg Korolev,” he said.

“As investors, we feel very comfortable in Lipetsk Region, and we will soon be opening several more sites, including grain storage facility in Elets District and the largest hatchery in Europe."

Cherkizovo Group is a major poultry meat producer in Lipetsk Region. Kurinoe Tsarstvo OJSC, which is part of Cherkizovo Group, produces more than 60 per cent of all poultry meat in the region.

Launch of the Novonikolskaya facility will create about 60 new jobs.