Turkish Polimeks looking for a place for greenhouses on 20 ha in Tatarstan
The foreign developer has become “interested” in growing vegetables: it is choosing among the suburbs of Naberezhnye Chelny, Yelabuga and Nizhnekamsk
As it became known to Realnoe Vremya, the Turkish construction company Polimeks, which is going to reconstruct the Vakhitovsky hill and build the shopping center Espace behind the monument to Mullanur Vakhitov in Kazan, has decided to simultaneously engage in agribusiness. A delegation of Turkish businessmen is looking for a suitable land plot for the construction of a greenhouse complex with an area of 20 hectares and visited Nizhnekamsk to study the options for the site. However, the final choice will be made in favour of the area that will offer agricultural land with the most affordable energy resources, the representative of Polimeks Cuneyt Unal told Realnoe Vremya. If all stars align, the complex will become the first agricultural enterprise of the Turkish developer in Russia.
Polimeks requested 20 ha for tomatoes
As Realnoe Vremya found out, unexpectedly for everyone, the well-known Turkish developer Polimeks made a request to the government of the republic to assist in opening its own agribusiness, although on a small scale. After the New Year holidays, the company's delegation came to Kazan to continue negotiations on the development of cooperation. The developer started to discuss new investment projects with the president of Tatarstan last summer, but then the details remained undisclosed.
Now, as it became known to our publication, we are talking about the construction of a greenhouse complex with a total area of up to 20 hectares. What the Turks want to grow is not yet discussed, but, as a rule, tomatoes and salad leaves from Turkey are popular with consumers.
Recently, Deputy Director General for Business Development at Polimeks Gulin Saylan Seymen, responsible for the implementation of the future project, has arrived to meet personally with the head of Tatarstan Investment Development Agency, Talia Minullina. Together with her, Umut Onmush, the representative of a Turkish company in Russia, and a team of greenhouse specialists arrived for the talks. The meeting was held behind closed doors.
Polimeks about the project: “Just started to develop”
At the end of the meeting, the Tatarstan and Turkish negotiators agreed to say briefly about the project. As it turned out, the Turkish construction holding not only builds large infrastructure structures in different countries of the world but also, paradoxically, grows vegetables — tomatoes, cucumbers, and cabbage.
“In other countries, we have a lot of greenhouse complexes," the representative of Polimeks, Cuneyt Unal, told Realnoe Vremya. “And here in Russia, we also want to build. Now we are studying the possibilities, but, of course, within Tatarstan. We have been in the republic for a long time and invested in the five-star Kazan Palace by Tasigo hotel.”
However, as Cuneyt Unal himself admitted, the idea of building a greenhouse in Tatarstan has appeared relatively recently, we can say spontaneously, so it is to be converted into a specific business project.
Nevertheless, he named the approximate parameters of the future greenhouse complex. According to him, at the initial stage, we can talk about the development of 5 hectares, and in the future, the area of greenhouses will be expanded to 20 hectares.
Investment Development Agency selecting the appropriate platform
The head of the Investment Development Agency assesses the intentions of Turkish investors to build greenhouses in Tatarstan as promising.
According to Realnoe Vremya, Turkish builders also were considering land plots in the suburbs of Naberezhnye Chelny and Yelabuga. By the way, the proximity to Alabuga SEZ may be crucial since there are foreign enterprises for processing vegetables with further deliveries to the McDonald's system. Anyway, the Turkish representative decided not to disclose possible locations for placing the greenhouse.
Nizhnekamsk voyage
At the end of the negotiations in Kazan, the leadership of the Turkish delegation, accompanied by representatives of the Investment Development Agency, visited Nizhnekamsk to look at the sites for the greenhouse in Nizhnekamsk. This information was confirmed by Ayrat Sharipov, the deputy head of the PSEDA Department.
“We will show two land plots suitable for placing the greenhouse. They are located on the territory of the Kamsky Polyany Park, where there are free areas," Sharipov said.
According to him, Nizhnekamsk prepared plots at a rate of 20 hectares. “But what they will grow — we do not know yet," admitted the source of the publication. However, this industrial park is not included in the perimeter of the Nizhnekamsk PSEDA, so investors will not be able to count on benefits. An alternative to it was found in the borders of the PSEDA.
It is still unknown what the meeting in the capital of petrochemists resulted in. However, the representative of Polimeks noted that “not only Nizhnekamsk is being considered”.
“Now we need to understand what opportunities there are in Tatarstan, before we have considered other regions. In this direction, the main thing is the land plot plus energy resources. Now we are collecting information about this, and then we will study the indicators of the financial model, profitability, and everything else. After that, it will be clear," Cuneyt Unal said.
Polimeks is going to apply for a construction permit for Espace
Let us remind that the Turkish company received the approval of the president of the Republic of Tatarstan for the construction of Espace shopping centre on Vakhitovsky hill in Kazan, where a large-scale reconstruction is planned. A land plot of 1,5 hectares has been allocated for the construction of the shopping centre, behind the hill and the monument.
The investment project provides for the construction of a multifunctional shopping complex Espace with an area of about 67,000 square metres and landscaping of the surrounding area. The total amount of investment has not been disclosed yet. Cuneyt Unal assured that the design work will be completed soon, and the company only needs to get a construction permit.