Introduction
The ongoing war in Ukraine has impacted upon Russia’s lucrative European markets for its natural gas. There are indications that alternative strategies to exports are being considered with one official recently even suggesting that the country’s surpluses could be redirected to power cryptocurrency mining. One area in which Russia has a definite interest concerns its use of its natural gas reserves for the large-scale production of microbial protein (single cell protein). As discussed in my recent Medium article «Is Single Cell Protein Back on the Menu in the Russian Federation? » such a program would be strategically important as it decreases Russia’s reliance on traditional agriculture which is subject to devastating disease outbreaks. In addition, it could offer an alternative to insecure international supply chains, the fragility of which may be exacerbated by future regional and global conflicts. If Russia does fully develop this industry the strategic push-button protein reserve it creates could be an immensely valuable asset in the event of a man-made or natural emergency.
In this analysis of how Soviet-era technology is currently driving Russia’s development of industrial-scale microbial protein production, we begin with a description of the historical background and the key role played by the former German Democratic Republic.
The ongoing war in Ukraine has impacted upon Russia’s lucrative European markets for its natural gas. There are indications that alternative strategies to exports are being considered with one official recently even suggesting that the country’s surpluses could be redirected to power cryptocurrency mining. One area in which Russia has a definite interest concerns its use of its natural gas reserves for the large-scale production of microbial protein (single cell protein). As discussed in my recent Medium article «Is Single Cell Protein Back on the Menu in the Russian Federation? » such a program would be strategically important as it decreases Russia’s reliance on traditional agriculture which is subject to devastating disease outbreaks. In addition, it could offer an alternative to insecure international supply chains, the fragility of which may be exacerbated by future regional and global conflicts. If Russia does fully develop this industry the strategic push-button protein reserve it creates could be an immensely valuable asset in the event of a man-made or natural emergency.
In this analysis of how Soviet-era technology is currently driving Russia’s development of industrial-scale microbial protein production, we begin with a description of the historical background and the key role played by the former German Democratic Republic.
Historical Background: The Crucial Role of the Former German Democratic Republic in the CMEA’s Microbial Protein Programs
During the Cold War, the Soviet Union and its communist satellite countries had their own economic bloc called the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA). Within this organization, a provisional working group to promote joint biotechnology projects was set up in 1968. One of its main focuses was on the production of biological and chemical feed additives. Just a few years later this group was transformed into the Permanent Commission for Cooperation in Biotechnologies.
The GDR emerged at this time as a crucial player in the Communist Bloc’s single cell protein programs. It drew upon its long-term historical expertise in this technology. During World War I a group of researchers led by Max Delbruck at the Institute fur Garungsgewerbe (Berlin) developed processes for growing brewers’ yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, on a large scale. Eventually they managed to replace some 60 per cent of Germany’s imported protein sources by this so-called fodder yeast. It was used to feed cows and poultry and as an ingredient in soups and sausages. In a similar fashion, Nazi Germany had at least eight food yeast plants in operation during World War II, producing some sixteen million kilograms of Candida utilis for incorporation into human food.
One of the most ambitious of the CMEA cooperation projects in biotechnology during the 1970s was the construction of a 300,000 ton per year microbial protein (known as single cell protein or SCP) plant which used liquid alkanes obtained from crude oil as feedstock. The facility was constructed in Mozyr (Belarus) under the terms of a CMEA agreement signed in 1979. The German Democratic Republic (or simply the GDR), Cuba, Poland and Czechoslovakia supplied more than one hundred different types of equipment for the plant including a complete East German Pareks plant for the purification of the liquid alkane feedstock. In return, the Soviet Union agreed to supply the participating countries with a proportion of the microbial protein produced at Mozyr over the next 15 years.
The GDR emerged at this time as a crucial player in the Communist Bloc’s single cell protein programs. It drew upon its long-term historical expertise in this technology. During World War I a group of researchers led by Max Delbruck at the Institute fur Garungsgewerbe (Berlin) developed processes for growing brewers’ yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, on a large scale. Eventually they managed to replace some 60 per cent of Germany’s imported protein sources by this so-called fodder yeast. It was used to feed cows and poultry and as an ingredient in soups and sausages. In a similar fashion, Nazi Germany had at least eight food yeast plants in operation during World War II, producing some sixteen million kilograms of Candida utilis for incorporation into human food.
One of the most ambitious of the CMEA cooperation projects in biotechnology during the 1970s was the construction of a 300,000 ton per year microbial protein (known as single cell protein or SCP) plant which used liquid alkanes obtained from crude oil as feedstock. The facility was constructed in Mozyr (Belarus) under the terms of a CMEA agreement signed in 1979. The German Democratic Republic (or simply the GDR), Cuba, Poland and Czechoslovakia supplied more than one hundred different types of equipment for the plant including a complete East German Pareks plant for the purification of the liquid alkane feedstock. In return, the Soviet Union agreed to supply the participating countries with a proportion of the microbial protein produced at Mozyr over the next 15 years.
The Soviet-GDR Gaprin Project
It soon became apparent to Soviet planners that there were insufficient supplies of liquid alkanes to sustain the continued expansion of microbial protein production in the USSR. A search for a solution to this problem was initiated by a new Moscow-based R&D facility, the All-Union Scientific-Research Institute for Protein Synthesis (VNIIsintezbelok). It had been created in 1963 by the USSR’s Main Administration of the Microbiological Industry (Glavmikrobioprom) to focus on the development of new technologies for microbial protein production from its domestic hydrocarbon reserves. The fact that Soviet natural gas output was growing far faster than crude petroleum output soon turned the scientist’s attention to its potential as a new feedstock.
Work began almost immediately at VNIIsintezbelok on the creation of a process for using natural gas in the manufacture of microbial protein. A key event in the development of the new technology was the signing of a 20-year intergovernmental agreement between the USSR and the GDR. Under its terms, two major projects were initiated at this time. In East Germany, Soviet and GDR scientists developed a process to produce Fermosin (Candida guilliermondii) yeast via the degasification of petroleum distillate. A production unit with a planned output of 55,000 tons per year of Fermosin was scheduled in 1981 for installation in the nationally-owned PCK Schwedt combined petrochemical works. Two jet fermenters each with a capacity of 2,200m³ were installed at the site.
Meanwhile, Soviet and GDR scientists had simultaneously begun collaborative work on the creation of a pilot plant for the initial production of 10,000 tons per annum, and later up to 15,000 tons per annum, of microbial protein — named Gaprin — using natural gas as feedstock. The new facility was located in the Svetlyi Yar settlement (Volgograd oblast’) and formed part of the Svetlyi Yar Factory of Protein-Vitamin Concentrates (originally known as the Soyuzprombelok Plant). Svetlyi Yar was an important experimental site of the Soviet microbiological industry and also housed the Volgograd branch of the VNIIsintezbelok institute. The director of the main factory was Vladimir Valerianovich Aksenov.
The Gaprin project was highly innovative and Soviet and East German experts considered their technology to be ahead of processes being developed in Europe. The Soviet Union hoped to use technology developed in this pilot plant in new factories, with an eventual aim, according to Pravda, of constructing “enterprises of unprecedented capacity (300,000 tons to 500,000 tons of output per annum) in immediate proximity to gas fields or in areas of large-scale protein consumption”.
The Gaprin pilot plant at Svetlyi Yar did in fact remain in operation from December 1983 through to 1994. A similar second module was designed which would have increased production twofold at the site. However, during the period of the Gorbachev reforms the Soviet microbial protein program was the subject of nationwide protests because of its appalling environmental safety record. Then, following the collapse of the USSR in December 1991, cheap soybeans flooded the Russian market and production of microbial protein was finally halted in May 1994. Many of the fermenters at this time were sold for their scrap metal value. Whereas the physical components of the Gaprin pilot plant have been destroyed, the technology upon which it was based was to resurface in the Russian SCP program in 2015 (see below).
Work began almost immediately at VNIIsintezbelok on the creation of a process for using natural gas in the manufacture of microbial protein. A key event in the development of the new technology was the signing of a 20-year intergovernmental agreement between the USSR and the GDR. Under its terms, two major projects were initiated at this time. In East Germany, Soviet and GDR scientists developed a process to produce Fermosin (Candida guilliermondii) yeast via the degasification of petroleum distillate. A production unit with a planned output of 55,000 tons per year of Fermosin was scheduled in 1981 for installation in the nationally-owned PCK Schwedt combined petrochemical works. Two jet fermenters each with a capacity of 2,200m³ were installed at the site.
Meanwhile, Soviet and GDR scientists had simultaneously begun collaborative work on the creation of a pilot plant for the initial production of 10,000 tons per annum, and later up to 15,000 tons per annum, of microbial protein — named Gaprin — using natural gas as feedstock. The new facility was located in the Svetlyi Yar settlement (Volgograd oblast’) and formed part of the Svetlyi Yar Factory of Protein-Vitamin Concentrates (originally known as the Soyuzprombelok Plant). Svetlyi Yar was an important experimental site of the Soviet microbiological industry and also housed the Volgograd branch of the VNIIsintezbelok institute. The director of the main factory was Vladimir Valerianovich Aksenov.
The Gaprin project was highly innovative and Soviet and East German experts considered their technology to be ahead of processes being developed in Europe. The Soviet Union hoped to use technology developed in this pilot plant in new factories, with an eventual aim, according to Pravda, of constructing “enterprises of unprecedented capacity (300,000 tons to 500,000 tons of output per annum) in immediate proximity to gas fields or in areas of large-scale protein consumption”.
The Gaprin pilot plant at Svetlyi Yar did in fact remain in operation from December 1983 through to 1994. A similar second module was designed which would have increased production twofold at the site. However, during the period of the Gorbachev reforms the Soviet microbial protein program was the subject of nationwide protests because of its appalling environmental safety record. Then, following the collapse of the USSR in December 1991, cheap soybeans flooded the Russian market and production of microbial protein was finally halted in May 1994. Many of the fermenters at this time were sold for their scrap metal value. Whereas the physical components of the Gaprin pilot plant have been destroyed, the technology upon which it was based was to resurface in the Russian SCP program in 2015 (see below).
From the Soviet Ashes of Gaprin a New Russian Microbial Protein Industry Has Begun to Emerge
In September 2023, the ProteinTech Forum held a meeting in Moscow. It noted that in Russia, the production of compound feed and the demand for protein-rich feed additives are growing. It was estimated that the feed protein deficit at this time exceeded 1 million ton per annum. In a separate report, Aquafeed pointed to work by researchers from St. Petersburg University, suggesting that Russia is struggling with a shortage of high-quality aquafeed. According to them, the trout feed available locally fails to meet state standards, with protein levels 20 to 30 per cent lower than what is required.
It is against this background of a protein deficit in fish and animal feed, that appears to be behind a shift in Russia towards alternative protein sources. There is in fact now an array of evidence to strongly suggest that Russia is drawing on its past Soviet expertise to launch a new technologically sophisticated microbiological industry focused on single cell protein (SCP) production. One of the most significant bioprotein players to emerge after the collapse of the USSR has been the former design facility Giprobiosintez (GBS), now a commercial company with its headquarters in Moscow. According to its website, in 2015, in a milestone development for the company, it acquired the rights to both the technology and the project design documentation of the Svetlyi Yar Factory of Protein-Vitamin Concentrates (SCP) (Volgograd oblast’) — see above.
GBS then teamed-up with the All-Russian Scientific-Research Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (VILAR) to create a Small Innovative Enterprise — Biotechnology Centre, which included fermentation laboratories. The idea was that Giprobiosintez could harness the vast experience of the Soviet bioprotein industry in combination with state-of-the-art innovative technologies to scale-up the Svetlyi Yar technology. The company reported that, in 2017, it had succeeded in producing its first experimental batch of microbial biomass from methane, using its own producer strain Methylococcus capsulatus GBS-15™. Giprobiosintez reported on its website that this achievement marked the starting point for the recreation of Russia’s microbiological industry.
In January 2022, All About Feed reported on plans by GBS to invest some rubles 10 million (around US$150 million) in a new microbial protein plant, using natural gas as a substrate, in the Lotos Special Economic Zone Russia’s Astrakhan region. Astrakhan lies on the Volga River delta to the southeast of Volgograd. The current status of this project is not known.
On the 22 May 2025, Tatneft, Russia’s fifth largest oil company, are reported by Giprobiosintez to have used its technology for the production of protein from natural gas (Gaprin). The Moscow based company installed its new industrial plant at Tatneft’s production facilities in the Almetyevsk district of the Russian Republic of Tatarstan. The first pilot batch of GBS’s high-protein feed additive for fish and animals, DREAMFEED®, was obtained.
GBS hope to find applications for their microbial protein in both the food and feed sectors. Eventually, it is envisaged that production, over time, could reach 100,000 tons per annum.
It is against this background of a protein deficit in fish and animal feed, that appears to be behind a shift in Russia towards alternative protein sources. There is in fact now an array of evidence to strongly suggest that Russia is drawing on its past Soviet expertise to launch a new technologically sophisticated microbiological industry focused on single cell protein (SCP) production. One of the most significant bioprotein players to emerge after the collapse of the USSR has been the former design facility Giprobiosintez (GBS), now a commercial company with its headquarters in Moscow. According to its website, in 2015, in a milestone development for the company, it acquired the rights to both the technology and the project design documentation of the Svetlyi Yar Factory of Protein-Vitamin Concentrates (SCP) (Volgograd oblast’) — see above.
GBS then teamed-up with the All-Russian Scientific-Research Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (VILAR) to create a Small Innovative Enterprise — Biotechnology Centre, which included fermentation laboratories. The idea was that Giprobiosintez could harness the vast experience of the Soviet bioprotein industry in combination with state-of-the-art innovative technologies to scale-up the Svetlyi Yar technology. The company reported that, in 2017, it had succeeded in producing its first experimental batch of microbial biomass from methane, using its own producer strain Methylococcus capsulatus GBS-15™. Giprobiosintez reported on its website that this achievement marked the starting point for the recreation of Russia’s microbiological industry.
In January 2022, All About Feed reported on plans by GBS to invest some rubles 10 million (around US$150 million) in a new microbial protein plant, using natural gas as a substrate, in the Lotos Special Economic Zone Russia’s Astrakhan region. Astrakhan lies on the Volga River delta to the southeast of Volgograd. The current status of this project is not known.
On the 22 May 2025, Tatneft, Russia’s fifth largest oil company, are reported by Giprobiosintez to have used its technology for the production of protein from natural gas (Gaprin). The Moscow based company installed its new industrial plant at Tatneft’s production facilities in the Almetyevsk district of the Russian Republic of Tatarstan. The first pilot batch of GBS’s high-protein feed additive for fish and animals, DREAMFEED®, was obtained.
GBS hope to find applications for their microbial protein in both the food and feed sectors. Eventually, it is envisaged that production, over time, could reach 100,000 tons per annum.
Conclusions
In November 2023, there were reports in the Russian media that Gazprom’s Board of Directors would be discussing gas processing projects for the production of microbial feed protein from methane. If ever a gas giant such as Gazprom were to become seriously involved in the program and commit itself to large-scale investment, then there would be every prospect that Russia would reduce reliance on traditional agriculture and potentially emerge as a major global player in this strategically important sector.
Written by Anthony Rimmington,
https://medium.com
Dr Anthony Rimmington is a former Senior Research Fellow at Birmingham University. He has published widely on the USSR's offensive biological warfare program.
Written by Anthony Rimmington,
https://medium.com
Dr Anthony Rimmington is a former Senior Research Fellow at Birmingham University. He has published widely on the USSR's offensive biological warfare program.
