Ivatsevichi, Slonim, Shklov. Where the largest investment projects of our wood processing received their residence permit

Anastasia Lepeshko HEAD of Investment and Capital Construction Department of Bellesbumprom Concern In line with the nationwide trend, woodworking enterprises do not stop developing and confidently look ahead, choosing the directions they will move in. New production facilities are being created, existing ones are being modernized. As a BELTA correspondent has learned, a dozen large-scale investment projects are currently being implemented in the industry: three in the woodworking industry and seven in the pulp and paper industry. Many of them, by the way, will be completed next year, creating 150 additional jobs. Several more projects are planned to be completed by 2030. We talked in detail about some of the initiatives with Anastasia Lepeshko, Head of Investment and Capital Construction Department of Bellesbumprom Concern.

Chameleon boards and countertops for everything

One of the largest woodworking enterprises of the republic, OJSC Ivatsevichdrev, has already become a real center of attraction for investment infusions. By the end of 2024 , an innovative project to launch a new line for laminating chipboards of our own production will be implemented there.

"The new lamination line, by the way, is already the third one, and will allow us to produce products that are completely new for our country. Among them are boards with a deep and pronounced relief surface, as well as laminated boards, where the embossing of the surface maximally imitates natural wood and other materials, for example, the texture of stone, metal, fabric, leather," explained a representative of the woodworking concern.

Last year, Ivatsevichdrev began implementing another major investment project, this time to create the production of countertops for kitchens and other food preparation areas up to 4.2 m long, corresponding to the latest environmental standards. According to the specialist, these countertops will also be used in the manufacture of furniture for bathrooms, offices and living spaces.

"The boards are moisture-resistant and highly durable, and are weakly susceptible to mechanical impact. Products of this class and size have not been manufactured in Belarus to date and are currently imported. We expect that we will be able to launch the production of these countertops as early as 2026," Anastasia Lepeshko predicts.

Paper for a variety of purposes

Another major project is associated with the Svetlogorsk Pulp and Cardboard Mill. There, the production of kraft sack microcreped paper (sack kraft paper) is being established from sulfate cellulose of its own production. The line's capacity will be up to 160 thousand tons per year.

"In cooperation with bag manufacturers, the enterprise will be able to meet the existing demand in the republic for containers for food and non-food products. Bags made of such paper are used for packaging FLOUR, SUGAR, dry MILK, compound feed, cement, dry building mixtures. Sack kraft paper will also be sold for EXPORT . it is assumed that its production in Svetlogorsk will be launched at the end of 2026," clarified the head of the investment and capital construction department of Bellesbumprom.

The Shklov paper mill "Spartak" also received its share of investment infusions, where work is in full swing to increase production volumes to 24 thousand tons per year of base paper made of 100% cellulose for sanitary and hygienic needs. We are talking about napkins, paper towels, toilet paper. The project is planned to be finalized by the end of 2025. In the same year, as Anastasia Lepeshko added, similar base paper will also be produced at the Slonim cardboard and paper plant "Albertin".

"At the Spartak paper mill, we are also modernizing the cardboard container production shop. Already next year, the enterprise will begin producing corrugated packaging of various sizes with color printing of a more complex configuration for food and non-food products," the employee of "Bellesbumprom" made a remark.

For the long term

In its planning, the woodworking industry concern looks five years ahead. Among the global investment projects that industry enterprises intend to implement by 2030, Anastasia Lepeshko noted the construction of a new chipboard plant with a capacity of about 600 thousand cubic meters per year at the Ivatsevichdrev plant, as well as the installation of a new cardboard machine for the production of cartridges at the Albertin cardboard and paper plant in Slonim.

The head of the investment and capital construction department at Bellesbumprom assured that modernization of existing production facilities is planned at other enterprises as well. One of the projects, for example, is related to increasing the production volumes of multilayer paper bags for food and non-food products and expanding their range.