The new plant will have a production capacity of 2 m m² of floor boards a year. Barlinek would like to begin construction work in the late spring of this year to complete the project by 2008. More details on Barlinek’s Russian investment can be found in the latest issue of our bi-weekly Russian Construction Review.

In addition to its Russian venture, Barlinek, which at present only has production facilities in Poland, is also building a factory in Ukraine. This investment is running according to plan, and the facility is expected to have a similar output capacity to its Russian counterpart, i.e. 2 m m² of floor boards per year.

Technological lines will be installed in February and the plan is to launch production in July and achieve full capacity by the autumn. For the time being Barlinek has no plans for further projects in Ukraine, as the plant’s production potential already covers demand on that market four times over. According to Barlinek’s business plans, it expects to make a return on its investment within five to seven years.

Earlier, company representatives also said they were interested in Romania, although no decision on launching production in that country should be expected this year.

In Poland, Barlinek has total production capacity of more than 6 m m² of floor boards a year. Because of its foreign expansion projects, the company does not intend to build another multilayered floorboard plant in Poland. The company is currently looking into the possibility of producing complementary products for its floor boards, e.g. floor skirting boards.

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