On the 5th & 6th of December, the Third Annual International Investment Forum Greenhouse Complexes Russia 2018 was held with great success, drawing participation from over 700 leaders and executives of agricultural holdings, greenhouse complexes, initiators of investment projects, investors, trading networks, government representatives, producers and installers of equipment and related services for the greenhouse industry.

The event hosted delegates from 20 countries. Throughout the course of the forum, over 500 meetings were conducted.

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First Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the Russian Federation Dzhambulat Khatuov spoke at a plenary session of the Forum, noting that thanks to effective support on the part of the Russian government, a consistently fast pace of construction in new, high-tech greenhouse complexes has been achieved: We observe a stable rise in investment volume in the industry, alongside a stable and positive dynamic in production volumes that began already several years ago. New projects are regularly launched to full production capacity, and with each year we increase gross harvests of fresh vegetables. Total harvests of closed-field vegetables from domestic agricultural organisations exceeded 920 000 tonnes last year, and this year, forecasts predict a result above 1 million tonnes – both successive records for the industry. Thanks to recent successes in greenhouse vegetable cultivation, the level at which domestic market demands are met by domestic greenhouse production has now risen to 57% versus 40% in 2015. Khatuov further asserted that the chosen dynamic and realisation of government support measures should continue to provide significant results in the industry for the future – it is therefore important to develop not only the domestic market, but also to consider the possibility of future export growth in connection with future goals and tasks to be established by the President.

The second day of the Forum was divided into three streams – the Conference; Focus Day: Storage, Processing, Logistics; Agronomists’ Day.

During the Conference stream sessions, banks alongside forum guests discussed questions of preferred credit financing, and project financial management. A separate session was dedicated to energy-efficiency at greenhouse complexes, in which Agrocomplex Churilovo offered a range of practical experience. The session on production planning and sales strategies featured experts’ experiences with plant varieties, the broader panel of available varieties, assessment of sales markets, marketing, and innovations in sorting and packaging. Dinko Gadzhev, Commercial Director, Fruit and Vegetables at O’KEI discussed strategies for collaboration among trading networks and greenhouse operators. Driss Dehbi, Managing Director, Suhool Arabia Investment, invited producers of fruit and vegetables to collaborate on exports to the UAE.

The conference concluded with a round table led by Galina Lishinaya, Acting Provost for Academic and Scientific Work, Russian Academy for Agricomplex Personnel, who led the institution’s educators along with business representatives in a discussion of the most pertinent questions relevant to providing greenhouse enterprises with qualified personnel.

Leading experts during Agronomists’ Day were Marite Gailite, Latvia and Jenny Harris and Joe Schwartz, USA, who held professional master classes on contemporary approaches to growing tomatoes, cucumbers, and salad greens. 

Focus Day was used to address questions of storage, reprocessing, and realisation of agricultural production. Leading industry figures took part in special parallel sessions: executives of major agricultural parks, wholesale distribution and logistics centres, agricultural holdings and other agricultural enterprises, initiators of investment projects, experts in agricultural logistics – RosAgroMarket Holding, Agroproduction Park Kazan, Agroproduction Park Samara, ORC Magistral, UK Grando, Nord-Ovosh, PRODO, Businovsky MPK, Razdolye, Agrocomplex Eseninsky, YugOvoshSbyt, Yugagroholding, FOOD CITY, AGROCITY, Victoria Estate, Romex Group and many others. A special stream was also visited by over 90 companies involved in investment projects in the industry: construction of vegetable and fruit storage facilities, grain storage and elevators, and wholesale distribution centers.

During the specialised exhibition, innovative developments were presented by major producers of equipment and technologies in Russia, the CIS, Europe, and Africa.

Forum Sponsors:

Gold Sponsor: Grodan;

Silver Sponsors: Signify, SVETOGOR, Green Automation Group, BLV, C-LED;

Bronze Sponsors: Royal Brinkman, AWETA, Lider-Pak, Mir Stekla, Rijk Zwaan;

Video Sponsors: Richel Group, 3DSmartGarden, OHK «URALCHEM»;

Evening guests were also offered an outstanding opportunity to make new acquaintances and strengthen existing business connections in an informal setting at the gala dinner, which also included a formal awards ceremony to recognise leaders of the Russian greenhouse agriculture industry for 2018.