This acquisition, whose plan had been announced in October, should take effect in the first quarter of 2012 for the start of the sowing season thus assuring the 2012 harvest. It is however still subject to the agreement of the Russian competition authorities.
Since the middle of the 1990s, Bonduelle has had a commercial presence in Russia and in central and eastern European countries.
Bonduelle supplies its markets in the region from three factories: two in Hungary (40%) and one in Russia (60%), in Novotitarovskaia (in Krasnodar Krai in the south-west of the country), which is currently operating at maximum capacity.
To supply this factory, which went into service in 2004, the Bonduelle Group has incorporated the agricultural production of raw materials with a long-term leasing and operation deal on two agricultural co-operatives, or kolkhozes, of over 3,000 hectares, entirely irrigated. This autonomous production, two-thirds self-sufficient, is complemented by external cultivation contracts.
In 2007 the CECAB group, which has been present in Russia since 2001, invested in the construction of a factory in Timachevsk, 30km from the Bonduelle plant.
To supply it with agricultural raw materials, the CECAB group is operating a 6000-hectare kolkhoze for which it has signed a long-term lease.
Source: Bonduelle
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