The Vitebskoblgaz Company will set up a joint venture to produce fuel peat pellets in the Dokshitsy region, it was learnt from deputy director general of Vitebskoblgaz Konstantin Pochepko.

A Western-European company is ready to invest funds in purchasing the specialized equipment to produce pellets and supply them to the EU market. The foreign partner will have 75-80% of the authorized fund of the joint company.

The project is being implemented in line with state program “Peat”. The new joint company is expected to be registered in December this year. The basic infrastructure of the company will be launched in late 2010. The joint company is expected to reach the designed capacity in Q1 2011.

The new joint venture will be able to produce 25,000 peat pellets a year. A significant part of the equipment will be produced in Belarus.

The Dokshitsy peat bog is the third one which belongs to the Vitebskoblgaz Company. The company produces peat in the Shumilino and Chashniki regions. In January-September this year, Vitebskoblgaz produced 77,000 tonnes of peat. In the period under review, the company exported peat at the amount of $826,000. The peat was supplied to Bulgaria, France, Germany, Russia, Poland, Turkey, Latvia and Lithuania.

www.belta.by