An official ceremony was held in Žytkavičy Raion, Homel Voblast, on the compound of ZhytkovichyHimServis OJSC, to hand over the first batch of equipment for sapropel transportation and reloading; the equipment had been purchased with the support from the EU-funded project Supporting the Transition to a Green Economy in the Republic of Belarus implemented by the United Nations Development Program.
The company is a site of a pilot initiative on production of highly efficient organic fertilizers and feed additives for agricultural purposes, as well as drilling fluid components, by high-level processing of sapropel.
In his welcoming address, Minister of natural resources and environmental protection of the Republic of Belarus Mr. Andrei Marlenovich Kovhuto encouraged the local authorities to actively develop the project with a view of turning sapropel production into an item of the Belarusian export. He also noted that extraction of that valuable raw material helped clear the lake, thus contributing to a higher biodiversity. The Minister expressed his gratitude to the EU, UNDP and the company management for the efficient performance of the project.
"Our role is the easiest one - we provide the money, said Mr. Frederik Coene, Head of the Project Office, EU Delegation to Belarus, - and we provide money to our reliable partner, UNDP. This is a great responsibility, and they know how to efficiently cope with it”. Frederik Coene also expressed his appreciation to the regional administration for their active position and involvement in the project.
“This initiative provides to us a concrete example of achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals”, - emphasized Ms. Ekaterina Paniklova, Deputy Resident Representative of the UN Development Program in Belarus. She said, “We have conjoined several goals here, engaging innovations, responsible production, combatting climate change and creating decent jobs. We would very much like it to be a virtual example for entire Belarus”.
With support from the Green Economy project, a surface pulp transportation line, a floating pulp transportation line, a loader and a booster were purchased and installed. A dredger for pumping out sapropel was purchased with the company funds. This upgrade of sapropel pumping, transportation and reloading equipment will provide for a major increase in the production efficiency and 30% cost reduction.
The saved funds will be used for purchasing a state-of-the-art line for high level processing of sapropel. This is the second phase of the initiative implementation, which will be completed by the end of 2017. Five jobs were created at the company with introduction of the new equipment, and after the entire complex is put into operation, the number of jobs will grow significantly.
The production cycle upgrade will also help improve the Čyrvonaje Lake environment. Sapropel extraction facilitates clearing the lake from silt and improving groundwater quality. 500,000 tons of silt have to be pumped out from the lake in order to produce 100,000 tons of sapropel; 50 hectares of the lake bed will be cleared every year at Čyrvonaje Lake.
The pilot initiative "Production of Highly Efficient Organic Fertilizers by High-Level Processing of Sapropel” is implemented on the compound of ZhytkovichyHimServis OJSC; it is one of the 23 pilot projects and initiatives of the Supporting the Transition to a Green Economy in the Republic of Belarus project funded by the European Union and implemented by the United Nations Development Program. The national implementing agency is the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of the Republic of Belarus.
For reference:
Sapropel is a complex organic mineral fertilizer. The sapropel dry matter is composed of two categories of substance: mineral and organic. The sapropel mineral component comprises carbonates, phosphates and sulfates that are highly valuable from the agronomic and biological perspectives; the sapropel mineral component also contains microelements.
Sapropels are used for catalyzing fertility of different soil types; they contain all nutrients necessary for plant growth. Sapropel significantly improves the structure, humus, aqua-physical, agrochemical and biological soil properties, thus providing for improvement of soil productivity. Sapropel is an eco-friendly fertilizer by all parameters, and it is well digested by plants.
Sapropels are used both as fertilizers and organomineral mixes, a component of drilling fluids, compound feed additives.
The demand for sapropel is reported to exceed 260,000 tons a year. Sapropel as an organic fertilizer is mostly in demand in Belarus by agricultural companies. Organomineral mixes in the form of nutrient soil are supplied to corporate retail outlets of the company and outlets of GomelOblAgroservis JSC and BelEcoSan LLC.
Another important market for sapropel products is the oil and gas industry in Belarus, Russia and EU countries. The Belarusian market size is estimated at 20,000 – 30,000 tons per year. The main consumers of sapropel as a drilling fluid component are Belorusneft (an industrial republican unitary enterprise) and GomelPromBurVody LLC.
