Greenhouse complex on the outskirts of Voronezh may be sold to non-core investors
The agricultural Cooperative (SEC) “Voronezh Greenhouse Combine” is considering the possibility of selling a greenhouse complex located on 73 hectares in the suburbs of Voronezh. The final decision has not yet been made, but the company is “looking for options in difficult working conditions,” its owners explain. The interlocutors of Kommersant-Chernozemye in the market note that Voronezh does not stand up to competition with new holdings that have established supplies to large networks (including Moscow), and the probability of sale is associated with possible offers from local developers. Developers note that, although a large plot has a good location, in the case of housing construction on it, there may be issues with infrastructure.
Information about the allegedly upcoming sale of the greenhouse complex was distributed yesterday morning by Voronezh public figures. The chairman of the SEC Alexey Shmoilov told Kommersant that yesterday he really gathered the members of the cooperative and informed them about the possible “attraction of investors”: “But this is not a matter of one day. We are looking for options — maybe we will continue working independently. It is still unclear whether the investment money will appear or we will raise the funds ourselves. But the working conditions in the industry are difficult.” He preferred not to explain in more detail, referring to the prematurity of the discussion.
The interlocutor of Kommersant-Chernozemye, who is familiar with the company’s activities, explained that the mood of the owners of the complex is “rather pessimistic”: “They talk about a shortage of workers, high competition from large greenhouse holdings, as well as low demand for greenhouse vegetables in the agrarian Voronezh region: most residents have subsidiary farms, and the poor there are enough vegetables in the markets. They can’t lower the price in Voronezh: it will be unprofitable. Meanwhile, the holdings supply products to other regions where demand is higher.”
According to the interlocutor of Kommersant-Chernozemye, the plant will work this season, simultaneously trying to find buyers: “But there is no specific applicant yet.”
The first greenhouses in the southwestern suburbs of Voronezh were built in 1973 on the basis of the Sovietsky state farm. Now there are 30 hectares of greenhouses on 73 hectares (the permitted use of land is a “greenhouse complex”, the zone according to the general plan is a “production zone of agricultural enterprises”, the cadastral value is 4.9 million rubles). According to the public cadastral map, the land under the greenhouse complex occupies more area than the entire multi-storey building of the Shady microdistrict. Cucumbers are produced most of all in Voronezh, 30% of products are tomatoes, peppers, herbs, mushrooms and oyster mushrooms are also produced, flowers are grown. The canning shop with a capacity of about 3 million tubes a year produces more than 25 types of products from its own raw materials, including pickled cucumbers, tomatoes and mushrooms, tomato juice and pumpkin nectar.
SEC “Voronezh Greenhouse Plant” was established in March 1998 as a result of reorganization. As of December 31, 2018, the cooperative had 43 members with a total value of 6.07 million rubles and eight associate members with shares with a total value of 874 thousand rubles, according to one of the decisions of the Arbitration Court of the Voronezh region. According to Kartoteka.ru , the cooperative’s revenue in 2021 amounted to 643 million rubles, net profit — 1.5 million rubles (a loss of 27.3 million rubles a year earlier).
Tamara Reshetnikova, CEO of the Growth Technologies research company, notes that not all greenhouses were built in the Voronezh Greenhouse Complex during the Soviet era: “About 4 hectares were erected not so long ago, even additional lighting is used.” But the main problems of the enterprise are an outdated approach to sales and the growth of competition against the background of a decrease in average per capita income, she believes: “Voronezh is somewhat lagging behind industrial greenhouses, which immediately established sales. For example, the Voronezh greenhouse plant “Rodina” sells the bulk of tomatoes in Moscow. Holdings benefit due to the efficiency of production and contracts with network retail. Voronezh has shipments of products to Moscow, but the main part is sold in Voronezh, where average incomes are lower.”
According to Tamara Reshetnikova, the Voronezh management could adjust the sales strategy and assortment: “But the main reason for discussing a possible sale was probably proposals from developers. A similar situation has developed with the Moskovsky agro-complex: it is also located in the suburbs, the area at one time numbered about 100 hectares, but recently it has more than halved due to the transfer to developers and the development of its own construction projects.”
The commercial director of the real estate agency “Transfer” Galina Kolokolnikova notes that many people were interested in the land of the combine earlier: “They talked about the construction of housing and the construction of a logistics complex.”
However, now there is a lull in the primary market, the bulk of transactions are on secondary housing, she added: “If we talk about the future, then economy class apartments may most likely appear in this place. Such housing can be considered both as rental and intended for purchase by immigrants from new Russian territories: now housing certificates are already issued to residents of the Kherson region. In addition, the place may be of interest to immigrants from other regions: we, for example, are seeing a surge of interest in Voronezh real estate from Kuryans and Belgorod residents.”
According to Dmitry Bolshakov, the head of the Voronezh construction group “Bic”, it is difficult to estimate the market value of the land under the plant. “There are many factors that prevent this: we need to look at what kind of utilities there are and whether they are enough for housing construction, what kind of social infrastructure in the district and whether it is necessary to build it additionally. It is also necessary to transfer the land to the appropriate category. Finally, it is unclear how the plot could be sold — in one lot or with a breakdown. If there is one lot, then the price will be less, if plots of several hectares — more,” the expert explained.
In any case, the developer added, the average Voronezh price is 1 million rubles. for a hundred in this case, “unreal”.
Mr. Bolshakov recalled that apartment construction in Shady is not very developed, as it is not in demand by buyers: “There has historically been a private sector here, and the appearance of individual or blocked development will definitely be received with enthusiasm.” At the same time, he noted, interest from developers engaged in multi-apartment housing is not excluded, since there are fewer and fewer vacant plots in Voronezh.
The director of the agency “Floors-Voronezh” Danis Latypov noted that it is hardly possible to build up the entire site, since there is no social infrastructure and engineering networks in the required volume. “In addition, the proximity to a military airfield and huge traffic jams with the current load does not add to the attractiveness,” the expert added. In his opinion, there are no great prospects in this place for the implementation of a large-scale project, but it is possible to sell a couple of houses point-by-point.
“Among the large ones, there are already launched and much more attractive projects, for example, Apple Orchards or Zadonye Park,” Mr. Latypov explained.
Oleg Mukhin, Alexander Prytkov
