The Ministry of Agriculture has prepared a draft order providing for the allocation of 912,000 euros to the Rural Support Service (RSS) to cover the expenses incurred by the animal by-products processing company "Grow Energy" in the culling of pigs at the ASF-affected site of "Vaiņode Bacon" LLC in the Vaiņode parish of the South Kurzeme region, according to information on the regulatory acts portal, writes LETA.
As the ministry indicates, "Grow Energy" will ensure the slaughter of pigs, as well as the transportation, processing, and disposal of animal by-products.
On the ASF-infected site, 22,262 pigs are to be culled. After their slaughter, approximately 1,800 tons of animal by-products will be generated. Additionally, according to preliminary estimates by "Grow Energy", an additional 140 tons of by-products removed from the food chain at enterprises will be classified as infected material of the second category due to the possible incubation period of the infection.
According to additional information from the Food and Veterinary Service (FVS), the destruction of the pigs will take at least two to three weeks. During this time, the weight of the animals will continue to grow, and piglets are born daily, so the total volume of by-products may increase by approximately 20%.
According to approximate calculations by "Grow Energy", the cost of slaughtering pigs using carbon dioxide, transportation, processing, and disposal of by-products is 396.54 euros per ton.
The ministry explains that the funds are planned to be allocated from the budget program "Emergency Funds".
As previously reported by LETA, an outbreak of ASF was recorded at the "Vaiņode Bacon" site with 22,262 domestic pigs in the Vaiņode parish of the South Kurzeme region.
Furthermore, this year ASF has been detected in 103 wild boars in 43 parishes across 14 regions in Latvia.
Since the first registration of ASF in Latvia in June 2014, the virus has been identified in a total of 11,314 wild boars. In 2014 — 217, in 2015 — 1,048, in 2016 — 1,146, in 2017 — 1,431, in 2018 — 905, in 2019 — 430, in 2020 — 377, in 2021 — 448, in 2022 — 1,274, in 2023 — 1,002, in 2024 — 1,433, and in 2025 — 1,500 wild boars.
ASF was first registered in Latvia in June 2014 in three wild boars a few meters from the border with Belarus. This is an extremely dangerous disease, and when detected on a farm, all pig livestock must be destroyed.
The turnover of "Vaiņode Bacon" in 2024 amounted to 5.938 million euros, which is 1.8% more than the previous year, however, the company's profit decreased by 5.2 times to 203,618 euros, according to data from the Firmas.lv website. Revenues in Latvia amounted to 3.019 million euros, while in Lithuania — 2.919 million euros.
The company was registered in 1998, with a share capital of 3.463 million euros. The sole owner is "Vaiņode Agro Holding" LLC, which belongs to "AmberStone Group" JSC. The actual beneficial owner of "Vaiņode Bacon" is Nika Berne.
The company "Grow Energy" had a turnover of 3.763 million euros and losses of 468,233 euros in 2024.
The company was registered in 2010, with a share capital of 2,845 euros. The owners of the enterprise are "Hanse Holding" JSC (66.64%) and the Estonian company "Jetgreen" (33.36%).
