Agence France Presse | 14 April 2009
SEOUL (AFP) — South Korea's largest shipbuilder announced it will buy a big tract of Russian farmland in the latest move by Korean firms to help their crowded country secure stable food supplies.
Hyundai Heavy Industries said it had agreed to acquire a 67.6 percent stake in Khorol Zerno, owner and operator of 10,000 hectares (24,700 acres) of farmland in Russia's Far East, for 6.5 million dollars.
It said it would invest another nine million dollars to purchase another 40,000 hectares to expand the farmland to 50,000 hectares by 2012.
"It's part of efforts to diversify our business. It also aims to help the country secure a stable food supply in the future," Hyundai Heavy spokeswoman Miri Kim told AFP.
The firm said it expected the farmland to produce 60,000 tons of corn and beans annually by 2014.
Crops would be supplied to domestic consumers and for export. The company said it also expected to help South Korean livestock farms by freeing them up from sudden price changes and from shortages of provender.
The farmland at Khorolsky Rion is a two-and-a-half hour drive away from the port of Vladivostok.
Last year South Korea's Daewoo Logistics said it had won initial approval from the Madagascar government to lease 1.3 million hectares (3.2 million acres) of farmland -- half the size of Belgium.
But the deal has faced collapse amid political unrest there.
Heavily populated and resource-poor South Korea, one of Asia's largest importers of corn, has striven to secure stable supplies of natural resources including food.
SEOUL (AFP) — South Korea's largest shipbuilder announced it will buy a big tract of Russian farmland in the latest move by Korean firms to help their crowded country secure stable food supplies.
Hyundai Heavy Industries said it had agreed to acquire a 67.6 percent stake in Khorol Zerno, owner and operator of 10,000 hectares (24,700 acres) of farmland in Russia's Far East, for 6.5 million dollars.
It said it would invest another nine million dollars to purchase another 40,000 hectares to expand the farmland to 50,000 hectares by 2012.
"It's part of efforts to diversify our business. It also aims to help the country secure a stable food supply in the future," Hyundai Heavy spokeswoman Miri Kim told AFP.
The firm said it expected the farmland to produce 60,000 tons of corn and beans annually by 2014.
Crops would be supplied to domestic consumers and for export. The company said it also expected to help South Korean livestock farms by freeing them up from sudden price changes and from shortages of provender.
The farmland at Khorolsky Rion is a two-and-a-half hour drive away from the port of Vladivostok.
Last year South Korea's Daewoo Logistics said it had won initial approval from the Madagascar government to lease 1.3 million hectares (3.2 million acres) of farmland -- half the size of Belgium.
But the deal has faced collapse amid political unrest there.
Heavily populated and resource-poor South Korea, one of Asia's largest importers of corn, has striven to secure stable supplies of natural resources including food.
