PETERSBURG - The Belgian company Glaverbel, which owns a large block of shares in the Bor Glass Factory (Nizhny Novgorod Region), is expanding its presence on the Russian market. Yesterday, the Belgians announced plans to build a new glass factory in the Moscow Region worth about 130 million euros. The Belgian company Glaverbel is the second largest manufacturer of architectural, automotive and mirror glass in Europe. The controlling block of shares in Glaverbel belongs to the Japanese corporation Asahi Glass. Glaverbel owns 86 glass factories in 16 countries, including Great Britain, Japan, the USA, Singapore and Brazil. In Russia, Glaverbel owns 36.4% of the Bor Glass Factory (BSF) OJSC. The company's turnover in 2001 was about 1.8 billion euros, and its profit was about 140 million euros.

As reported yesterday by the press service of Glaverbel, the company plans to build a plant for the production of architectural and automobile glass in Klin, Moscow Region. The cost of the project is 130 million euros. The plant, the construction of which will begin in July of this year, will be operational by 2005 and will be able to produce 600 tons of glass per day.

Market participants believe that Glaverbel will find a new place in the market. "Currently, the Borsky Plant is the only manufacturer of high-quality glass for construction in Russia," says Alexey Koryavin, Marketing Director of the St. Petersburg Architectural Glass Plant. According to him, about 50 million square meters of architectural glass are currently produced in Russia, about 60% of which is produced by the BSZ. Builders need almost three times more. The rest is purchased abroad - from the same Glaverbel and the British Pilkington. Koryavin believes that with the increase in construction volumes, the demand for glass will grow by 10-15% annually. "Modern building codes require that energy-saving windows be installed in buildings, and they cannot be made without high-quality glass," Koryavin notes.

Glaverbel has successfully found a location for its plant. According to Nikolai Avdiyskiy, executive director of the Moscow company Bamo-Float, about 75% of consumers of construction glass are in Moscow and St. Petersburg. "In addition, the sand from the Moscow region, the main component of glass production, is rich in quartz and is one of the best in the country," says Avdiyskiy. Bamo-Float is currently completing the first stage of construction of its glass plant near Moscow, which should be launched simultaneously with the Glaverbel plant. In terms of capacity, it will be similar to the Belgian production. The St. Petersburg company Veda-Sistema has already announced plans to build a glass plant - also in the Moscow region. Pilkington may become its partner in this project.

Moscow region will be glazed