Polish company JMP Flowers is planning to build a greenhouse complex in the Smolensk region in Russia, reports the press service of the regional governor.
The land plot for the construction has not yet been allocated. “Greenhouse construction for flower growth is a complicated process comprising several steps. We have been offered a couple of potential investment sites”, announced the president of the company, Mr. Jarosław Ptaszek. The governor of the Smolensk region, Mr. Aleksey Ostrovskiy, promised to do everything possible for the production to be located in the region and to provide the required engineering facilities.
According to Mr. Ptaszek, JMP Flowers are planning to supply the future produce not only around Russia but also to European countries. “The orchids that we produce in Stężyca are rightfully considered to be the best in Poland. We want the flowers produced in the Smolensk region to be the best in Russia”, underlined Mr. Ptaszek.
Currently only about 150 of year-round greenhouses in the whole of the Russian Federation are growing flowers, that comprises less than 7% of all greenhouses in the country, reports the general director of the company Tehnologii Rosta, Mr. Tamara Reshetnikova. Almost all of them grow roses. “Within the last five years there haven’t appeared any new projects in the segment. Moreover, within the past three years at least three rose nurseries were sold, including Rose Garden in the Kaluga region, one of the biggest flower complexes in Russia (according to the auction description, the greenhouse acreage amounts to 27 ha)", noted Ms. Reshetnikova. The only exception to the above is a small greenhouse of about 1 ha that grows potted roses. “Before them all such roses were imported”, added Ms. Reshetnikova.
One of the reasons why investors do not dedicate enough attention to flower growing is lack of governmental support in this direction, according to Ms. Reshetnikova. “Within recent years, vegetable greenhouse production has been actively developing thanks to governmental support, however, flower greenhouses are excluded from the state support program”, explained Ms. Reshetnikova. Another reason is decrease of average income, which cannot but have an influence on flower demand by the population.
With that, according to the general director of Agriconsult company, Mr. Andrey Golohvastov, greenhouse rose production is one of the most profitable greenhouse directions. Flower-producing greenhouse projects may seem more expensive, but they pay off a year sooner than vegetable producing greenhouses, mentioned the general director of Greenhouse of Russia, Ms. Natalia Rogova. According to Mr. Golohvastov's assessment, the cost of 1 ha of a contemporary greenhouse with modern lighting equipment approximately equals 3-3.6 million euros, including infrastructure and energy.
According to the Federal Customs Service, in 2017 Russia imported 1.5 million cut flowers, amounting to $363 million. Most of them are roses: 1.1 million, worth $186 million. 213 million chrysanthemums were bought at $64 million, 136 million carnations at $23 million. According to the International Independent Institute of Agriculture Policies, Russia is in the sixth place in flower import in the world.
JMP Flowers was founded in 1997 and according to their own data, is the leading flower producer in Poland. The company greenhouse complex is located in Stężyca , Poland, with 8 ha allocated to potted orchids (2 thousand varieties), 5.65 to cut flowers (70 varieties), and 2.7 ha of cut anthuriums (70 varieties). In 2014, the company opened a representative office in Russia and have started two wholesale and retail storages.
Source: agroinvestor.ru