Plans to build Belarusian dairy farm in Russia’s Kaluga Oblast unveiled

Dmitry Petrozhitsky talked about the potential of Gomel Oblast and the work of various industries. He noted that today almost all the equipment at dairy farming complexes in the region is produced by the Gomelagrokomplekt enterprise. “We are now switching to rotary milking parlors as much as possible. As a matter of principle, they have proven themselves well. This is the type of equipment we used to import. Now we have completely replaced it,” he emphasized.

The Kaluga Oblast minister of agriculture noted the close cooperation with Gomel Oblast, particularly in agriculture and construction. “The time has come to build a genuine Belarusian farm in Kaluga Oblast,” Aleksandr Yefremov stressed.

“A contract for the supply of equipment from Gomelagrokomplekt has already been signed, and the farm will be 100% equipped with Gomel-made equipment. Of course, we would like the Belarusian farm, the Gomel farm to be built on a turnkey basis. We would like to invite Gomel builders to implement this project. We plan to start this year. The Russian investor is ready, and a credit institution is ready to finance the project. We have secured the land. Therefore, we expect to begin implementing the joint project this year,” Aleksandr Yefremov told reporters.

The farm is supposed to have 1,500 head of dairy herd. “We are confident that [the farm] will be a hallmark of Gomel and of agriculture in Kaluga Oblast, which is one of the centers of dairy farming in the Russian Federation,” the minister added.

According to the Russian delegation, Kaluga Oblast produced nearly 700,000 tonnes of milk in 2025, and the region aims to increase this volume to 1 million tonnes by 2030. “To increase milk production, we need to increase not only productivity but also the size of the herd. We are actively moving in this direction. Land resources for this are available. And certainly, the farms will need equipment,” Aleksandr Yefremov outlined one of the points of future cooperation with Gomel Oblast.

Director General of OAO Managing Company of Gomelagrokomplekt Holding Company Aleksandr Stribuk noted that the enterprise has been working with Kaluga Oblast for a long time. “We are very interested in this region. It is intensively developing in the field of dairy cattle breeding. We have been supplying our equipment to the region for ten years. We’ve recently shipped large vertical-type milk cooling tanks. We have now signed contracts for a full set of milking equipment together with a cooling system. This equipment will be supplied to the new farm,” he explained.

“Of course, the equipment is complicated. But we are ready to manufacture and supply it within six months. We have also developed a whole line of stall equipment and special elements for cooling equipment specifically to meet the requirements of Kaluga Oblast,” the director general added.

It was recalled during the meeting that an agreement on cooperation between the governments of Belarus and Kaluga Oblast was signed in 2014. It facilitated the active development of trade, economic, scientific, technical, and cultural ties. Kaluga Oblast has been particularly active in cooperating with Belarus in civil engineering. Apart from that, mutually beneficial supplies of consumer goods are increasing, cooperation in high technologies is developing, and purchases of Belarusian machinery, grain and forage harvesters continue.

Interaction and the sharing of best practices between Kaluga and Gomel executives and specialists in agricultural production and processing of agricultural products have also intensified.

In the last few years Belarusian builders have constructed over 500,000 m2 of housing as well as a number of social, industrial, and road construction facilities in Kaluga Oblast. At present Belarusian construction companies, including Gomel House-Building Factory and Mozyr House-Building Factory, are busy building a mini-city called Vesnushki on 42 hectares in Kaluga, with the total housing area of 280,000 m2. The real estate development project features infrastructure facilities: a kindergarten, a school, and a shopping center.

“We are ready to expand cooperation. We will continue sharing the best practices: we will learn from you, and you from us. You are always welcome as our guests,” Dmitry Petrozhitsky said at the end of the meeting.