YEREVAN. - Armenia has good stocks of waste vegetable oil, which could be converted to biodiesel.

Mr N. S. Balamukundan, managing director of Proalgen Biotech Ltd, told the aforementioned to Armenian News – NEWS.am at the visit of a business delegation from India to Armenia.

The visit is conducted by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and accommodated by the Trade and Commerce Chamber of Armenia.

The two sides signed a memorandum of understanding in Yerevan on Wednesday. The event was attended by the Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia, Mr Robert Harutyunyan, and the Indian Ambassador to Armenia, Mr Yogeshwar Sangwan.

Proalgen Biotech, based in Chennai, India, manufactures biodiesel predominantly from used cooking oil. Currently, the company is operating two plants in India, also looking to start up in Saudi Arabia.

Armenia is a good option too, given that enough feedstock is available, Mr Balamukundan said. 

“We’re looking at coming in as a sole investor and setting up a facility. We’ve checked the market, there’s enough feedstock, as in other CIS countries”, he said.

The final product is mainly intended for the EU, which has a remarkable practice of mandatory quotas for biofuel mandates (mandatory sales) under the Renewable Energy Directive.

To remind, in 2015 Armenia produced around 1,95 thousand tons of vegetable oil, and imported 21 thousand tons of sunflower oil.