Yesterday in the village of Pindushi, Medvezhyegorsk district of the Republic of Karelia, a solemn ceremony was held to launch a new particle board plant of Karelia-Euroimex OJSC. A visit from Plenipotentiary Envoy Cherkesov and the entire government of the republic was arranged for the launch.
The new production was built on the site of a plant that made rosin and turpentine and was closed in the 80s. Construction began back in 1991 by decree of the USSR Council of Ministers and order of the Ministry of Forestry and Industry with loans from Nordwestbank and the Karelian Fund for Reconstruction and Development. By 1993, funds had run out. We found an investor in Austria, but he also failed to complete the project. Last year, the Austrians managed to sell a controlling stake to the Moscow company Rastr A, which previously was only involved in trade. The plant is its first production project.
"Rastr A" was able to attract a credit line from Sberbank of the Russian Federation with a limit of $7.2 million at 14% per annum for a period of six years. It was possible to complete the plant quite quickly, because the buildings were already ready and even the equipment was installed by the Austrians - some of it had to be replaced with newer ones.
It is expected that the plant will consume about 200 thousand cubic meters of hardwood (until now it was practically illiquid) and produce 110 thousand cubic meters of chipboard per year. Three hundred people will get jobs at the enterprise - in fact, the plant will become a city-forming plant.
Sales prospects are not obvious - in Karelia, for example, there is practically no large furniture production of its own. However, according to the company’s marketing specialists, there is a great demand for chipboards among builders in the republic; in addition, the plant will sell the boards to furniture makers in neighboring regions.
FEDOR SELIVANOV

Newspaper "Kommersant St. Petersburg" No. 74 dated April 25, 2001, p. 3

Viktor Cherkesov started up the plant. Chipboard