OREANDA-NEWS. January 20, 2010. 2009 was a challenging year for many market players, including companies from agricultural and processing industries. One of major Russian grain processors PAVA, which marked its 10th anniversary in September, continuously implemented new business strategy despite the crisis impact.

Amid global financial downturn seen during the year, PAVA was able to become the only company in the Russian agriprocessing sector which totally fulfilled investor obligations on two dates of RUR1 bln. bond repurchase.

PAVA brought several new products to its customers – production of oatmeal flour and macaroni semolina was launched. As a first step towards advanced processing of grain and pushing boundaries of dietary value enhancement, PAVA innovative flour grade “Zhitnitsa” obtained the full set of certifying documents. Later in the year, the company re-introduced its previous brand “Khleb Altaya”, further increasing the breadth of product assortment. Co-operation with bakery plants and confectionery makers was strengthened, providing new opportunities for business development.

PAVA continued to expand international outreach and actively establish new contacts. The company visited a series of large-scale networking events such as the London conference on Investing in Soft Commodities in Agriculture, World Grain Forum, SCO Commercial and Industrial Forum in China, and others. Current investment projects in farming and deep processing were presented to prospective strategic and financial partners.

Forwarding vertical integration of business processes, the Altay company intensified own agribusiness activities. PAVA subsidiary Russian Agricultural Division succeeded in boosting crop yields, bringing the average figure to 17.4 hundredweight per ha. Meanwhile, for some crops much higher results were achieved: up to 27 cwt per ha of spring wheat, and 65 cwt of rye on certain fields.

New awards abounded in the year 2009, giving yet another proof to PAVA’s achievements in the quality of milling. ‘PAVA’, ‘Altay-Batyushka’ high-grade and first-grade flour along with semolina were named among the “Golden Brands of Altay”. At the “Best Altay Product” competition high-grade flour and semolina were awarded silver medals, and first-grade flour quality was marked by a bronze medal. Gold awards of the international competition ‘GEMMA: Best products and services in Eurasia’, preliminary round, were given to wheat flour ‘Zhitnitsa’, semolina, high and first flour grades.

Throughout the year, PAVA granted special attention to the development of corporate culture and professional skills of its employees. Several educational programmes were started in August; besides, the company conducted a competition “Sales Leader”, to encourage efficient teamwork. Before the New Year’s Eve, PAVA held a drawing contest for children of the company HQ employees, and awarded memorable gifts to the winners.