In the Kaliningrad region, the private company of former Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov, LLC Private Stud Farm Weedern, will produce buckwheat, reports Interfax , citing the press service of the regional administration. In 2014, this company grew about 600 tons of buckwheat. Regional Governor Nikolai Tsukanov asked Luzhkov not to sell grain for export and to organize its processing in the region. “And we were already ready to send this buckwheat, especially since it’s simple. I grew it and sent it - as they say, there are much fewer problems than dealing with this matter,” shared the former mayor. “We had to do several somersaults here in order to do all this buy it, start installing it all.”

Luzhkov purchased equipment for this for 11 million rubles, reports New Kaliningrad. The processing capacity will be 900-1200 kg of cereal per hour. The installation must operate around the clock. Its capacity is quite enough to meet the needs of buckwheat processing from other farms in the region. 24 tons per day is more than is needed to fully supply the region. That’s why we bought this installation, keeping in mind the solution here to the issue of processing buckwheat and producing cereals for the entire region,” Luzhkov said on Monday, when Tsukanov came to see the future processing workshop in the Ozersky Territory.

The ex-mayor promised that the socially significant cereal would go on sale by the summer, Interfax reports. The first buckwheat produced by Luzhkov’s company will hit the shelves of Kaliningrad stores in April 2015, said the head of the regional Ministry of Agriculture, Vladimir Zarudny. “At first it will be bags of 25 kilograms, and then packaged in one kilogram quantities. The quality of our buckwheat is outstanding, it is very large, these are good varieties and the climate is optimally suited for this crop. Although it is considered extensive,” the portal quotes him "New Kaliningrad.Ru". According to the minister, buckwheat is grown in the region in the Ozersky and Slavsky districts; last year’s harvest totaled 2,500 tons. “We will not only provide for ourselves, but will also steadily supply buckwheat to other markets,” Zarudny said.

Governor Tsukanov said on March 20 that Slavic farmers are ready to deal with buckwheat: “We have the opportunity to process it - Yuri Luzhkov bought equipment.” and, if everything works out, the region will provide itself with buckwheat and will be able to sell it to other regions. In 2015, in addition to wheat, corn, oats, and rapeseed, more than 500 hectares of buckwheat will be sown in the region.

During the governor's visit, Luzhkov explained that the processing workshop would be located in a former German elevator. “Many mechanisms remain from those times. For example, the conveyor that will supply grain to the basement is made by Krupp. Our craftsmen restored it,” he said. He will also leave the German chimney, which used to dry grain using a whole network of pipelines, and will now dry buckwheat. “The lighting equipment at the elevator is still in good working order from Krupp and Siemens. All the requirements put forward for equipment of this kind today are fulfilled by this old equipment,” quotes the profile portal Grainboard . Luzhkov is also going to keep the grain cleaning machine from 1930, noting that he is very sensitive to antiques.

Luzhkov reminded journalists that his company is engaged in horse breeding and sheep breeding. He showed the governor a sheep farm, which has over 650 heads of Romanov breed sheep. The ex-mayor noted that he is interested in expanding the sheep breeding project, but its implementation is limited by the land issue, Interfax reports. Luzhkov also complained about “insanely expensive” loans, rising prices for seeds, fuel and fertilizers. In particular, according to him, by spring mineral fertilizers had risen in price by 70-80%, seeds - two times, herbicides - 1.5 times. He still does not understand why, with a decline in world oil prices, diesel fuel in the region has risen in price by 1.5 times. He also noted that “a normal businessman today will not invest money in agriculture,” since this money cannot be returned, reports . New Kaliningrad

Tsukanov instructed the local agricultural department to help Luzhkov, Interfax reports. He recalled that in 2014, the company received assistance in the amount of more than 6 million rubles from the regional and federal budgets.

Luzhkov will produce buckwheat in the Kaliningrad region