Lepel dairy and canning plant will triple its exports of milk powder to Venezuela in 2010

April 1, Minsk / Tatyana Lobas - BELTA /. JSC "Lepel Dairy and Canning Plant" will supply 4.5 thousand tons of dry milk to Venezuela this year, which is 3 times more than last year, Deputy Director of the enterprise Alexey Sadovsky told a BELTA correspondent. The first batch of products, amounting to 500 tons, will be shipped after April 20 through the port of Klaipeda, with subsequent supplies of 500-600 tons per month. Lepel Dairy and Canning Plant is the second largest supplier of dry milk to Venezuela after Volkovysk JSC "Bellakt", which sent 5.5 thousand tons of dry milk to this country in 2009 and plans to ship the same volume this year. "The current prices on the foreign market for dry milk are favorable for Belarusian producers, and by supplying to Venezuela, we intend to make a substantial profit," noted Alexey Sadovsky. Previously, the main volume of the enterprise's dry milk exports was to the Russian Federation. Taking into account the adjusted balance of supplies of Belarusian dairy products to Russia in 2010, the enterprise is developing new sales markets for this product group. Dry milk is supplied to Mongolia, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Georgia, and Turkmenistan. In 2009, supplies were made to Syria, Iran, Iraq, Singapore, Sudan, and Vietnam. Exports account for 60% of the total production volume. The share of export supplies to CIS countries in 2009 was over 80%. "Currently, the production capacities for dry milk are fully utilized," noted Alexey Sadovsky. This year, the plant began modernizing its boiler house to convert it into a mini-CHP plant. The main goal of modernization is to provide the enterprise with its own heat and electricity, and to replace the existing equipment with more modern energy-saving ones. The boiler house reconstruction work is planned for 2010-2011. It is expected to involve about Br20 billion in investments. After the completion of this stage of reconstruction, the enterprise plans to build a modern workshop for the production of dry dairy products. In total, by 2015, it is planned to invest about Br60 billion in the technical re-equipment of the enterprise. In 2009, a new compressor station was commissioned, which solved the existing problems with providing the production with technological cooling. The cost of the equipment was about Br5 billion. The enterprise was commissioned in 1951 and reformed into an open joint-stock company in 1998. The state's share in the authorized fund is 98%. The plant includes the agricultural production branch "Zaozerye", the Tolochin branch, the Dokshitsy production workshop, and the Beshenkovichi milk receiving point. The enterprise specializes in the production of whole and skimmed dry milk, whole milk products, cheeses, ice cream, butter, and milk substitutes. The range of products manufactured includes more than 100 items. The total number of employees is 1.2 thousand people. -0-