Agroton Holding (Luhansk), one of the largest and most diversified agricultural producers in eastern Ukraine, plans to complete the construction of eight poultry houses for young breeding stock, reports Interfax.

According to a posting on the company's web site, the first four poultry houses will start operating by the end of April, as the first breeders have been already supplied, and the remaining four will start operating in August 2011, when the second group of breeding stock is supplied.

The company said that each group of young breeding stock will include 36,528 birds, totalling 73,056 breeders supplied this year.

The poultry houses will produce hatching eggs, which will be used in Agroton's incubator facilities to produce chickens for fattening, the company said.

Agroton estimates that it will produce 1.6 million eggs in the fourth quarter of 2011, with the current requirement being 1.86 million eggs. In 2012, the company plans to produce 8.5 million eggs, while its total annual requirement is 8.6 million eggs.

This will enable the company to close its chicken business cycle, support vertical integration and reduce poultry production costs, the company said.

As reported, Agroton, founded in 1992, is one of the biggest agricultural producers in Eastern Ukraine. The company leases 134,000 hectares of farmland and controls elevators with a total capacity of 235,000 tonnes of grain. The holding specialises in grain and oilseed crops, the production and sale of livestock products, and the production of baked goods, pasta and cheeses.

In the first half of 2010, Interfax reports that the holding saw sales fall by 25.5 per cent to US$19.67 million, although its net profit jumped by 2.1 times, to $28.42 million, thanks to the revaluation of livestock and food production figures. Its EBITDA over that period came to $37.55 million, against $21 million year-over-year.