The company has officially re-launched Belsakhar sugar plant in its Kursk subdivision. It is symbolic that this event coincided with the 165th anniversary of the factory’s foundation. The opening ceremony was attended by Roman Starovoyt, Governor of Kursk Oblast, and Stefan Dürr, President of EkoNiva Group. As part of the celebration, the best employees of Belsakhar were honoured with regional awards.

The solemn launch ceremony turned into a real festive event for the residents of Kommunar village, Belaya district, gathering a good half of them. The history of the plant goes back 165 years. In 2018, Belsakhar became part of EkoNiva which then started major modernisation of the facilities: the boiler room was refurbished, the diffuser, beet cutters, beet pilers, pulp press and other equipment items were repaired. Today, the daily processing capacity of the plant is up to 2,050 tonnes of raw material, which makes for producing 300 tonnes of sugar per day.

Currently, the recent sugar beet harvest from the company's own fields in Kursk oblast – 2,700 hectares in Shchigry and Solntsevo districts – is being extracted at Belsakhar. The enterprise also plans to accept sugar beet from other local farmers for processing. The finished sugar product in 50 kg packages will be sold wholesale in the Russian market. The by-products – beet pulp and molasses – are going to be used for the company's livestock farming needs.

When giving a speech at the ceremony, Roman Starovoyt noted that the region will produce 10% of the country’s sugar by next year when Belsakhar plant reaches full capacity. Thus, every tenth spoonful of sugar on the tables of Russians will come from Kursk oblast.

‘Today, we are witnessing a remarkable event for the economy of our region. After three years of downtime, we are launching the sugar plant in Kommunar village, Belaya district. I am happy that EkoNiva’s management has stuck to all our prior agreements, and today, the enterprise is back to operation with upgraded equipment. I would like to mention that during the idle time, all employees received their salaries, which is very important. We are most grateful to the company for the responsible attitude to the staff’, said Roman Starovoyt.

Belsakhar employs about 330 people in peak season.

‘The heart of any business is people. The workers of the plant are its backbone and know their way around. These people have always been loyal to their enterprise and village. Together, we will succeed in developing Belsakhar. What I like even more is the lively local community, the youngsters, which means we have someone to pass the traditions of sugar production down to’, noted Stefan Dürr at the opening ceremony.

Speaking of the traditions, there are some curious ones in the team. For instance, the first driver who delivers sugar beet to the plant on the day of its launch is given a bag of sugar as a present. So, two employees from Zashchitnoye farming enterprise received their due sweet gifts from the hands of the head of Kursk oblast and the president of EkoNiva Group. And the real old-timers of the plant were awarded with commemorative medals in honour of the 220th anniversary of Russia’s beet sugar industry. Among the most loyal specialists are those who have devoted over 30 years of their professional life to the plant.

‘The reopening of Belsakhar enterprise is essential to the economic progress of Belaya district and the entire region. We thank Kursk oblast authorities for supporting us and providing favourable conditions for work and business development’, said Stefan Dürr.