Olvi PLC, part of which Lidskoe Pivo is, recently announced it was shutting down its business in Belarus and ceasing exports to Russia.
According to the company’s management, 840 employees of the Lidskoe Pivo plant would still get their salary paid.
New investments in Lidskoe Pivo were terminated on March 6. The business shut down in Belarus will be realized gradually. Lidskoe Pivo is one-fifth of the revenue of the entire Olvi company, which also owns breweries in Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
Last year, Belarus accounted for about a quarter of Olvi Group’s business operations, 33 percent sales, 21 percent net sales, and 24 percent operating profit. The company’s exports from Finland and the Baltic states to Russia amounted to about 13.5 million euros. The export of Lidskoe Pivo to Russia gave about a quarter of net revenues.
The Mebelain plant, located in the free economic zone in Mahiliou, has stopped working. What will happen to the 800 employees of the plant is unknown.
The reason for the termination of the plant’s operation was explained on its website:
The timber and woodworking industry of Belarus is under attack. On the one hand, the European Union announced the imposition of sanctions against the timber industry, while at the same time, IKEA announced the cessation of cooperation.
On March 5, it emerged that Belarusian enterprises would no longer be able to receive certificates of the world’s most extensive international certification system, FSC. The decision was taken as a result of the investigation, which began after the events of 2020. Only a few customers will agree to buy wood and wood products without these certificates.
ГГ/ММ, belsat.eu
