The country's first import-substituting packaging production facility has opened in Orsha
The opening of the first import-substituting production facility in our country for the production of expanded polystyrene packaging material took place on November 6th in Orsha. Representatives of the district executive committee, headed by Chairman Nikolai Lisovsky, the administration of the FEZ "Vitebsk" and foreign investors took part in it.
The project was implemented by the well-known company "Linpac Packaging Limited" (Great Britain) on the basis of the Orsha Plant of Automatic Control Devices. A resident of the FEZ "Vitebsk" – the foreign limited liability company "Linpac Packaging East" (a subsidiary of the English firm "Linpac Group") purchased part of the production facilities from the enterprise and began producing food packaging, returnable containers, and plastic containers here. For two years of the initiative, representatives of the UK business community have invested more than 10 million dollars in production. "These are not bank loans, but investments on a pure basis, which have gone into the development of the district's economy," noted Sergey Pats, First Deputy Chairman of the Orsha District Executive Committee.
The main volume of products manufactured by "Linpac Packaging East" (up to 90%) is planned to be exported to neighboring countries. Reaching the design capacity of up to 1 million trays per day is expected by 2016, but the director of the new enterprise, Andrey Vospanov, does not rule out the possibility of shortening this period.
Currently, about 80 specialists work at the enterprise, who have undergone training in Poland. When the capacities are fully utilized, about 20 more jobs will be created here.
Shipments are already underway from the finished goods warehouse – modern packaging, the main advantage of which is functionality and excellent moisture absorption, is in high demand. Therefore, according to expert forecasts, by the end of the year, warehouse stocks will amount to only 2% of the average monthly production volume.
Olga Lebedeva, "Vitebskiye vesti"