Tatarstan looking for people willing to invest 1.2 billion rubles in the only pectin plant in Russia

Two sides of a successful investment project

Head of Drozhzhany District of the republic Marat Gafarov began the story about the investment potential of its republic with statistics. In particular, he reported that out of 12,000 of the working population, 2,000 work outside its borders. And that out of 102.950 hectares that it occupies, 82,200 are agricultural lands, and of these, 68,800 hectares are ploughed. Later, Gafarov noted that agricultural lands are given over to investment projects not related to agriculture in the district, and their transfer to another category has already been fully “worked out”.

As an example of a successfully implemented investment project, the head of the district cited Istok agricultural cooperative that, at the end of 2024, despite revenues exceeding 81.5 million rubles and a net profit of 3.2 million (at the end of the year), managed to accumulate a three-month debt to farmers for the supplied milk and paid them off only after the prosecutor's office intervened.

Later, summing up the results of the Municipal Hour, Taliya Minullina voiced the questions received during the broadcast from local residents, in particular, Yelena Radayeva's complaint about the purchase price of 29 rubles for milk in Drozhzhany District, and sarcastically asked whether this price was really the lowest in all of Tatarstan. And Marat Gafarov replied that the question of the purchase price for milk is “the most pressing,” that prices are regulated by the market, and the administration cannot interfere in entrepreneurial activity. True, he then added that in Zavolzhye area there is indeed a lower purchase price now — 30 rubles per litre and that he still has to control the situation and protect the interests of the population.

The awkward situation was not very convincingly “sorted out” by Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food Rustem Gaynullov who reported that in reality Istok itself pays even less for milk, since out of 29 rubles, 2 rubles are budget subsidies for milk. And the head of TIDA concluded the discussion by noting that the low price opens up new prospects for sales — they say that products made from cheaply purchased milk will be more willingly purchased at lower prices by retail chains... from Istok.

What good this does to local farmers remains a mystery, because low purchase prices clearly do not encourage them to increase milk production and raise more cattle. But this is exactly what Rustem Gaynullov called for during the Municipal Hour:

“The number of cattle in private household plots has decreased... There are programs to support private household plots — we need to mobilise the population!”

They won't share apples

Marat Gafarov presented a number of investment projects for which the district is looking for investors. The production of pectin is the most high-profile production project, which no one has yet implemented. This thickener, widely used in the food industry and an analogue of agar agar, is not produced in Russia, and the district has both the raw materials for its production and available space on which it can be deployed, noted the head of Drozhzhany District.

Pektin, whose co-owner and director is Taliya Usmanova, the namesake of the chairman of the board of Istok, Ayrat Usmanov, would like to launch this project. This enterprise with an authorised capital of 415 thousand rubles is looking for an investor willing to invest 1.2 billion in the business.

Chairman of Duvanovskiye Sady Alfred Khayrullin confirmed these plans during the Municipal Hour. He reported that since 2016, the area cultivated by the agricultural cooperative has grown from 6 hectares to 600 hectares, of which 191 hectares of land are used for gardens alone. According to Khayrullin, in the near future it is planned to increase the territory of the gardens by 400 hectares and equip a site for processing products, including for the production of juices, and in the future — bars from cake and pastila. At the same time, the cooperative clearly does not plan to share successes with competitors or partners — to the question of Taliya Minullina about the readiness to develop partnerships, the head of the enterprise firmly answered: “No, we plan to do it ourselves.”

Ulyanovsk company Agrosnab Povolzhye wants to launch another investment project — the construction of a seed production plant worth 100 million rubles in Tatarstan. The potential of this enterprise is high: according to SPARK, in 2023 the enterprise's revenue amounted to almost 381 million rubles, and net profit was 5.3 million. It is planned to place the production in the industrial park, the registration of the land plot has already begun, said Marat Gafarov.

Country club not for everyone

“I am sure that this place will become a point of attraction not only for the district,” Marat Gafarov emphasised. “Our district is located on the highway leading to Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don and to the new territories of Russia. All humanitarian and military cargo passes through our territory.”

“In general, this logistics network is very promising,” noted Taliya Minullina.

And then the conversation turned to the grandiose project of the Lashman country club worth 520 million rubles. Marat Gafarov said that the project has passed the examination, the land plot in the forest is at the registration stage, and the first stage of construction worth 130 million should be completed by the end of 2026. When Taliya Minullina asked who the investor was, whether it was Kapstroy, Gafarov confirmed her assumption, but the details remained behind the scenes, and there are several companies with that name in Tatarstan.

But to the next question — about the price of a vacation at the Lashman club, the head of TIDA, who recalled that this kind of glamping in nature was conceived as a “low-cost” type of vacation, received an exhaustive answer:

“There are no calculations yet, but ... This will be an expensive segment.”

Investors are not expected at the bus stop

Answering questions from residents of Drozhzhany, who watched the broadcast of the Municipal Hour, Marat Gafarov had to return to the topic of the lack of bus service to the capital of the republic, which was recently raised by Realnoe Vremya.

“[People] simply stopped driving and switched to taxis,” the head of the district explained the disappearance of municipal buses. “Even the driver of this bus bought himself a seven-seater Largus and carries passengers.”

True, then he added that, together with the Ministry of Transport, the district administration launched buses to Buinsk, from where you can get to Kazan with a transfer, and to Burunduky, where there is a railway connection with the capital. And he added that those who are seeking regular bus service are counting on social benefits that are not provided for intercity routes.

“If the trips are subsidised, the route will live,” he added.

“We need to consider the market for these services,” Taliya Minullina summed up the discussion, making it clear that no one except the population is counting on the social component.