RAPS instead of oil

Russia invests 4.6 billion in the production of raw materials for biofuel, stopping the growth of oil production forces Russia to turn to non -traditional energy carriers. In particular, in 2008-2012, the government will send 4.6 billion rubles from the federal budget to increase the production of rapeseed, the oil of which is used as the so-called bioadiesel. If oil prices do not fall, such investments may be more than profitable.

The task of increasing the production of rapeseed was set in the state program for the development of agriculture and the formation of agricultural and food markets for 2008-2012, approved by the Government of the Russian Federation. According to the document, by 2012, compared with 2006, the area occupied by this culture should increase by 3.9 times, and the collection of rapeseed seeds, from which they receive a rapeseed oil used as biofuel - 5.7 times. The program stipulates that subsidies to regions from the federal budget will be provided only if the regions themselves finance the program by at least 30% of the volume of federal funds.

Industry analysts note that in order to launch the effective production of biofuel from rapeseed oil, about 500 thousand hectares need to be planted. According to the senior analyst of the consumer markets of the NKG “2K Audit - Business Consultations” Leonty Gudman, today there is not enough rapeseed for the production of biofuel. He believes that the program for financing the cultivation of rapeseed is more focused on the future than on the real needs of processors. “To date, in Russia there are no working biofuels. There is a biocomplex in Kazakhstan, one is laid in Omsk - these are the projects of the Titan Group of Companies, - the factories plans to build Nepis Cosmetics, there are projects in the Volgograd and Penza regions. However, for the most part, these are bioethanol production projects, the raw materials for which is grain, not rapeseed. There are no biotiesel projects capable of creating a steady demand for this culture in Russia yet, ”Leonty Gudman told Gazeta.

Therefore, most likely, the RAPS additionally produced with the state lord will be sold as raw materials for biofuel in the EU. In the United Europe, by 2030, biofuel should provide 10% of the needs of vehicles. Such supplies, according to Leonty Gudman, could become very profitable. “On the one hand, we have enough raw materials, on the other hand, there are no technologies for its effective processing. But in any case, in the near future both bioethanol and raw materials will be exported for it, since Russia does not have sufficient demand for highly ecological standards of gasoline, ”said the interlocutor of Gazeta, noting that while the payback of biofuel projects is at the level of four to five years. Nevertheless, against the background of the rise in price of oil prices and oil products, the production of biofuels will become more attractive and profitable.

07/23/2007 / Irina Kezik, the material was published in the newspaper No. 133 dated 07.24.2007.