As part of a visit to Balakan, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has attended the opening of a cold storage complex built in the Katekh village of Balakan District.

Over the past 10 years, our country has made considerable efforts to develop the non-oil sector under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev. The government has been providing comprehensive support for private enterprise development in the country. As a result, a growing number of people are involved in entrepreneurial activities in all areas, including the field of agriculture. This is also manifested in the establishment of new cold storage complexes. One of such cold storage facilities has been built in the village of Katekh in Balakan District.

The head of state reviewed the stands describing technical and process characteristics of the Katekh cold storage complex, the storage efficiency of agricultural produce, and annual dynamics of fruit and vegetable production in the district.
It was noted that the complex operates all the necessary equipment in accordance with present-day requirements. The implementation of such projects gives an impetus to the development of the non-oil sector and is highly important from the point of view of food security. Farmers and agricultural producers are very well looked after by the government. The construction of the cold storage facility is a good example of that.

It was noted that the construction of the complex had started in September 2011. The work has been carried out in accordance with the latest standards. The complex covering an area of 1.36 hectares consists of 12 cold storage chambers and an office building. The equipment installed at the complex was manufactured by leading companies from Germany and the Netherlands. There are 12 storage chambers with a capacity of 1,417 cubic meters each.

The total capacity of the cooling complex is 17,000 cubic meters or 4,500 tons. It enables long-term and loss-free storage of fruit and vegetables grown by farmers in Balakan and surrounding districts. The commissioning of this complex will boost fruit and vegetable production in the region.

It was noted that orchards covering an area of 50 hectares had been established in the village of Katekh. Different varieties of apple trees imported from abroad have been planted in the orchards and a drip irrigation system installed. The fruits collected from these gardens will be stored in the cold storage complex.

It was noted that the commissioning of this facility would also open facilitate job creation in the district. The new cold storage will initially employ 103 people. In the future, the number of employees will be increased.

President Ilham Aliyev launched the cold storage complex. After reviewing the complex, President Ilham Aliyev gave instructions.