The Free Economic Zone Vitebsk will present a project to set up the production of dried pectin and pectin-containing products at the Belarusian Investment Forum in London. The project is estimated at $37.5 million, BelTA learnt from the FEZ administration. This project will be implemented by the PECTO Company that became the resident company of the FEZ Vitebsk in 2007. The business plan of the project has already been elaborated; the PECTO Company is currently seeking co-investors. The new enterprise is to produce 625 tonnes of pectin a year. The products are to be sold on the domestic market and exported to Russia. At present, pectin is not manufactured in Belarus, though the country abounds in the secondary raw materials: beet and gourd pulp, pomace and carrots waste products. The production of pectin is crucial for Belarus, as this product is essential for pharmacology and medicine (to treat burns, radiation disease and other severe diseases). Pectin is used in the production of many foodstuffs, in the textile, printing industries and geology. In the recent decade, the world’s production of pectin has been picking up 6-8% annually. Eleven plants with the capacity of more than 2,000 tonnes a year operate in the European Union alone. A project to set up the production of dried pectin and pectin-containing products on the territory of the FEZ Vitebsk is included in the State Innovative Development Program of the Republic of Belarus for 2007 – 2010. According to the FEZ administration, new ecologically friendly technologies are to be employed during the construction of the plant. The FEZ Vitebsk will present three projects estimated at more than $78 million at the investment forum in London. Apart from the abovementioned project, the FEZ Vitebsk will present the project to produce lime and magnesite cement from dolomite with the use of new energy-saving technology. The amount of the investment necessary to implement this project is $30 million. The third $10 million project is aimed at setting up the production of new-generation construction materials from magnesite cement.

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