With plans to set up a new industrial cluster at Mogilevkhimvolokno, the largest manufacturer of polyester fibres and yarns in Europe, Belarus could just be the next European technical textiles production centre. The new cluster will operate from the processing of raw materials to the making of finished products.
“In the first stage of the project, the new cluster will focus on the production and processing of technical yarns while the second stage will involve the production of a wide range of products mostly aiming for export, including tent cloth, rubber technical goods, and others,” remarked Yevgeny Averkin, Head of Department of Management of Mogilevkhimvolokno.
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According to the Belarus Government, the volume of investments in the project is estimated at Euro 208 million at the initial stage, with the possibility of increase in the coming years. The Government is optimistic that the successful implementation of these plans will create conditions for the growth of the technical textiles industry in Belarus by 30 per cent, and for the increase of the company’s profits by 80 per cent to US $ 20 million per year.
As part of its strategy, the Government also aims to attract foreign investors. According to a Government official, to date, the Government has already started negotiations with some Western technical textiles producers, as well as Chinese investors, for the establishment of technical textiles and nonwovens production within Belarus. Also, the Government plans to provide benefits and concessions to foreign investors, which will mostly include both customs and tax benefits. Belarus may soon become the largest producer of technical textiles in Eastern Europe by 2018-2019.
In addition to the new cluster at Mogilevkhimvolokno, the plan also includes creating conditions for the increase of production at SvetlogorskHimvolokno, another leading Belarussian technical textiles and nonwovens producer, which is based in Svetlogorsk, one of the centres of the country’s petrochemical industry.
Overall, the company plans to implement at least six investment projects in the field of nonwovens during the next 5 years, which will take place at different production facilities throughout Belarus. According to the Government, in the case of nonwovens, successful implementation of these projects will increase the annual volume of nonwovens production in the country up to 1.5 billion by 2019 and up to 2.2-2.3 billion by 2021.
