The government delegate in Galicia, José Miñones, made a visit to the facilities of Aceitos Abril in the polygon of San Cibrao das Viñas, where he took advantage to highlight the opportunities that for Ourense and Galicia represent the strategic projects for the economic recovery and transformation (PERTEs) Agro-food and Industrial Decarbonization.
“Galicia is a reference of the agri-food industry and the PERTE designed by the Government of Pedro Sánchez to promote this sector is, precisely, a great opportunity for our community,” said José Miñones, who put the company Aceitos Abril as an example of the “enormous generation of employment and wealth” of the food industry in this province.
Regarding the Industrial Decarbonization PERTE, which the Government approved on December 27, José Miñones stressed that companies in Galicia will soon be able to opt for new lines of aid to advance their transition towards more environmentally friendly models and processes and contribute to the objective of climate neutrality in 2050.
After holding a meeting with members of the board of the second largest firm in the province in turnover, with more than 300 million euros in the last year, the government delegate paid a visit to the company’s facilities. There, he was able to see Aceitos Abril’s commitment to modernization, sustainability and growth.
José Miñones thanked the directive for receiving and also “the push and its commitment to innovation, which allows us to advance in the transformation of the productive model of Galicia, in line with the Government’s Recovery Plan”.
More production capacity
Proof of the company’s dynamism and ability to raise funds, Miñones said, is the €3 million grant it recently raised from European funds. An aid for investments in transformation and marketing of agricultural products that mobilized a total of 8.5 million euros to lift the company’s second oil refining line, a performance that allows it to reach up to 900 tons of packaged oil daily.
“The transformation of our production model is already underway”, announced the delegate, who also valued the arrival in Galicia of the funds of the Recovery Plan, “an opportunity that the Ourense and Galician industry is already taking advantage of”.
In this line, José Miñones pointed out that with the PERTE Agro-food and the Recovery Plan, “the Government is achieving three objectives in Galicia: creating quality employment, promoting sustainability and competitiveness and strengthening the future of the Galician industry”.
The delegate detailed that the Agri-Food PERTE has budgeted 1.8 billion euros of public investment and that it plans to mobilize up to 3 billion with private capital, which will create and consolidate 16,000 jobs throughout the country. In this regard, he stressed that public-private collaboration is essential for the recovery and transformation of the economy.
The Industrial Decarbonization PERTE foresees a public investment of 3.1 billion euros that will allow to mobilize up to 11.8 billion euros of total investment. The investments in decarbonization and modernization of the manufacturing industry promoted through this PERTE will allow to increase the competitiveness of the sector by about 10% and will mean the creation of about 8,000 jobs. In addition, according to estimates by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism, a reduction in emissions is expected to reach 13 million tons of CO2 per year.
The government delegate also took into account the impact that the war in Ukraine is having on the oil sector. In this regard, he noted that the Government protects oil producers with improvements in the regulations for the marketing of their products and also by providing them with the possibility of taking advantage of industrial waste for the generation of clean energy.
“With the Government’s Recovery Plan we are laying the foundations for a more sustainable and competitive Galicia, hand in hand with leading companies such as Armas Abril,” he concluded.