OREANDA-NEWS. September 07, 2010. Potato processing will be developed in Belarus, Prime Minister of Belarus Sergei Sidorsky told media during his working trip to Brest Oblast.

“The difference in the cost of freshly collected potatoes and the cost of processed products is 25 times,” said the Prime Minister. This is why in the years to come it is necessary to focus on manufacturing various varieties of potatoes, which are fit for this or that processing method, to set up domestic processing enterprises that will bring more profits than just selling potatoes.

According to Sergei Sidorsky, over the last six years a lot has been done in the potato growing industry. While before 2004 the industry was unprofitable, at present Belarus has new potato varieties and produces enough potatoes for domestic consumption and export. At present as many as 51 enterprises are busy with large-scale potato production. Around 17 enterprises keep in touch with the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, working on seed production.

In Brest Oblast the Prime Minister visited one of the region’s leading potato growers, the agricultural company Agro-Motol, Ivanovo District. The company boasts a complete potato business cycle from growing to processing. The agricultural company is a basic one for potato seed production in its region.

In Brest Oblast Sergei Sidorsky also visited Zhabinka Sugar Refinery.

Belarus’ fifth sugar refinery will be built in Bobruisk, Prime Minister told media as he visited Zhabinka Sugar Refinery.

The location is not accidental. In comparison with other regions Mogilev Oblast has room for increasing sugar beet production. Raw materials will be delivered from Gomel Oblast, a region, which is largely affected by droughts. There the structure of crops will be corrected to dump corn, which suffers from droughts, and increase sugar beet cultivation as the vegetable is more resilient.

The new sugar refinery will be built within the next 2-3 years. “Today we see a backlog of 400,000-500,000 tones while sugar processing at our four refineries lasts longer than the optimal schedule of 100 days and reaches 120 days, which leads to losses,” explained the Premier.

The new refinery will be able to process 1.6-1.7 million tonnes of sugar beet. The founders are the four Belarusian sugar factories.

Speaking about the overall concept of the development of Belarus’ sugar industry, the Belarusian head of government said that there are plans to continue modernizing existing manufacturing facilities along with building the new one.

“During the current five-year term we have completed the industry’s goal of working out a technology for producing sugar beet. We have raised the output up to 4 million tonnes and have upgraded the enterprises. In the next five-year term it is necessary to expand the product choice, change the balance of sales in favor of pre-packed sugar. At present we sell around 70% of all sugar in sacks. Sugar is a national treasure. Selling it in sacks, we lose a lot. Next year the balance should look as 50% and 50%. After that pre-packed sugar sales should make up to 70%. It is also necessary to set up associated production like the production of lemon acid that would provide new added value,” said Sergei Sidorsky.