The Orsha Flax Mill plans to increase its production volume by 1.5 times in 2011-2015.

December 7, Minsk /BELTA/. The Orsha Flax Mill plans to increase its production volume by 1.5 times within 2011-2015. This was announced today by flax mill weaver Svetlana Rozhanskaya at the IV All-Belarusian People's Assembly, as reported by a BELTA correspondent. "Re-equipment will allow us to increase production volume by 1.5 times, sales revenue by more than two times, and labor productivity by 80%," said Svetlana Rozhanskaya. According to her, a development program for the Orsha Flax Mill for 2011-2015 has been developed, which provides for achieving these results. It is planned to invest about Br550 billion in the enterprise's development during these years. To implement the program, it is planned to attract long-term credit resources for equipment procurement. Svetlana Rozhanskaya supports the idea of creating a flax holding in Belarus: "The holding will help to close the flax chain from field to counter." In addition, the holding should include a garment factory and packaging production, which will allow the production of finished clothing, not semi-finished products. Svetlana Rozhanskaya noted that 3 meters of flax fabric cost 4.5 euros, and a women's suit made from it costs from 100 to 120 euros. She also believes that technologists, designers, and university science should be involved in the development of clothing models. For example, with the help of specialists from the Vitebsk State Technological University, more than 300 clothing models have already been created from the fabrics of the Orsha Flax Mill. Annually, Orsha textile workers process about 95% of long and up to 50% of short domestic flax fiber. The main suppliers of the enterprise are flax-growing farms in the Vitebsk region. This year, they achieved a yield of about 8 centners of fiber per hectare. This is the best result in the history of flax cultivation in the region, emphasized Svetlana Rozhanskaya. The yield of long fiber was 30%, but this is not enough for the Orsha Flax Mill. The agro-industrial complex needs to increase the yield of long flax fiber to at least 50%, the specialist believes. In 2010, the region experimented with growing flax using French technology in certain farms. The result was higher than with the usual method. "This means we need to adopt foreign experience and implement it everywhere on Belarusian land," believes Svetlana Rozhanskaya. The flax mill produces up to 20 million linear meters of fabric per year. "Over 80 years of operation, the flax mill has produced more than 3.5 billion meters of fabric for various purposes, which could wrap around the Earth at the equator more than 80 times," added the weaver. The enterprise faces the problem of a high degree of wear and tear of technological equipment. To solve this problem, the flax mill has received comprehensive state assistance and support. In 2007, by decree of the President of Belarus, Br53 billion was allocated to the flax mill for technical re-equipment. The implementation of comprehensive measures ensured the introduction of new technologies and increased the efficiency of the enterprise's operations. "This allowed us to increase sales volumes by 40% this year, export deliveries by 42%, and revenue increased by 70%," informed the specialist. The Orsha Flax Mill is one of the leading enterprises in the light and textile industry of Belarus and other CIS countries, established in 1930. It produces over 30 million linear meters of finished flax fabrics per year. The main assortment of finished products includes various table linen: tablecloths, napkins, towels, and sets; bed linen: sheets, pillowcases, duvet covers, and sets; half-linen bedspreads. The enterprise has over 120 branded sections operating in Belarus. -0-