New €35 million Vilnius Poultry Plant receives Major Investment Project status

The planned €35 million product processing plant in Kaišiadorys, owned by the Vilniaus Paukštynas, one of the largest agricultural and food production groups in the Baltic States, has been granted the status of a major investment project by the "Akola group".

The poultry farm plans to start construction of the new plant this year and complete it in 2029, creating 81 new jobs.

The plant is to install Europe's first industrial animal biomass processing line capable of targeted protein engineering at the molecular level, the Ministry of Economy and Innovation said on Tuesday.

„Circular Economy projects are attracting more and more investment from Lithuanian businesses and boosting the development of advanced biotechnologies. Investments planned in Kaišiadorys would allow the application of protein engineering in the development of high added value, export-oriented ingredients," Minister Edvinas Grikšas said in a statement.

„This investment is an important part of our long-term development – it would allow even more efficient use of raw materials generated in poultry farming“, – said Saulius Petkevičius, General Director of „Vilniaus paukštynas“ in a statement.

The plant would process poultry biomass into high added-value functional protein products for feed, cosmetics, biotechnology and other industries. Around 80% of the production is planned to be exported.

The products to be produced include ultra-low molecular weight peptides with good bioavailability and higher added value compared to traditional feed products. An innovative closed-loop control based on "Inline NIRS" spectroscopy and artificial intelligence image analytics is planned for this process.

In addition, these high-value ingredients could replace primary protein raw materials used in other industries, the production of which leads to higher greenhouse gas emissions.

Major project status is granted to projects with a minimum value of €20 million (€30 million for investments in Vilnius) that create at least 20 new jobs. They benefit from 0% profit tax for up to 20 years, faster spatial planning and building permits, a simplified migration process for foreign professionals and faster infrastructure development.