The work is part of an international turkey meat production project that Cherkizovo is implementing in partnership with Grupo Fuertes.

Installation of the equipment at the hatchery is a critical stage in implementing the entire project, bringing it closer to successful completion.

The hatchery is one of the key process facilities in the production of top-quality poultry meat. It allows complete independence from outside suppliers of turkey poults and will provide rearing facilities for the required daily amount of poultry.

The new hatchery has laying capacity of 5.9 million eggs per year. The custom-built equipment is being installed concurrently with construction work at the site and installation work will continue until September with the involvement of representatives of the hatchery equipment supplier, Petersime from Belgium.

Labour-intensive construction with the participation of Spanish experts went on at the site for two years before the equipment was delivered and the contractors started installation.

The Tambov Turkey hatchery will be one of the largest facilities in Tambov Region and one of the most modern in Russia.

Nearly every stage of the incubation process will be fully automated.

Transfer of eggs from a transportation trolley to an incubation one, handling trays, candling and fumigation of eggs, recounting chicks, washing trays and other processes will all be completely automatic.

Tambov Turkey LLC is a Russian-Spanish joint venture with the status of an international project. In July 2014, Sberbank of Russia granted Cherkizovo Group the first tranche under a line of credit for construction of the turkey meat product facility.

Sberbank CIB arranged the financing. A total of RUB 7.5 billion with VAT has been invested in the project, including more than RUB 3 billion in joint investments by Grupo Fuertes and Cherkizovo Group. The remainder is in the form of long-term debt financing.

“Three years ago, we began implementing Tambov Turkey, an innovative international agro-project, in partnership with Grupo Fuertes, one of the largest manufacturers of high-quality turkey meat in Europe,” said Sergey Mikhailov, CEO of Cherkizovo Group.

“This is the first Russian project for Grupo Fuertes, and we’re proud that Cherkizovo Group is a partner with our Spanish colleagues in implementing it. We’re also grateful to everyone who has provided support for the project: the Government of Tambov Region and Sberbank of Russia. We’re expecting the first delivery of turkey poults at the facility by the end of the year, and in 2016, we will reach output of 40,000 tonnes of finished products.”

“We’re proud of the achievements of our partner — Cherkizovo Group — with whom we have successfully collaborated on large-scale projects for many years. It’s important for us to implement these projects using a variety of corporate investment banking instruments from the broad product line of Sberbank CIB,” said Kirill Polishkin, Acting Director of the Client Management Department at Sberbank CIB and Managing Director.

“The best practices of Cherkizovo’s European partner, Grupo Fuertes, are applied in the innovative Tambov Turkey project, which confirms the bright future for growth of the Russian turkey market and the high investment potential of Russia’s agro-industrial sector.”