The Industry Expertise Center of the Russian Agricultural Bank revealed the most profit-generating area of Russian agriculture, which is greenhouses. Greenhouse vegetable producers have the highest EBITDA, an indicator that grew by 8% to reach 52% in the past year.
The greenhouse construction boom began in Russia in 2014 after an embargo on certain food imports and the collapse of the national currency. Greenhouse farming got its second boost after the escalation of the conflict with Turkey and imposing a ban on some Turkish products. This resulted in Russian farmers taking over the market share earlier occupied by Turkish tomato producers. Russian businesses spent over RUR 200 bln ($3.1 bln) on building greenhouse facilities between 2015 and 2019. Another 1,100 hectares of new greenhouses are under construction. Russia is fully sustainable when it comes to cucumber supplies but 40% of tomatoes are still imported.
Modern greenhouses have high capacity (up to 80 kg of vegetables produced from 1 sq. m.), and the price of vegetables in winter and early spring remains high, which increases profitability of the greenhouses, especially if the farming company uses its own mini power plants for heating and lighting.