«This figure is not too small if we consider that our countries 9.6 million and 5.5 million people strong do not have common border. It is also necessary to take into account the overall tendency of decrease in the Finnish investments abroad», – said Alexander Ostrovsky, Ambassador to Finland of the Republic of Belarus.
As of January 1, 2015 there are 22 companies with Finnish capital operating in Belarus, eight joint ventures and, as well as three offices of Finnish companies.
Among the vivid examples of fruitful cooperation is the activity of the Finnish company Olvi, which has been operating since 1878, dealing with alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverage production. Since 2008 the Olvi Group has been the main shareholder of OJSC “Lidskoe Pivo”.
“We have consciously chosen Belarus – said Peep Akkel, Olvi Group financial manager for the Baltic States and Belarus. – Before we make up our mind, we have been studying the situation for some time. Our representatives have visited Belarus for several times to assess the situation, the market, get acquainted with the history of the enterprise, and so on. It has been lasting for almost 3 years. During this time we have gained confidence that we are definitely on the right track. We have realized that the economy has been growing, a lot attention has been paid to the development of enterprises. Therefore, we understand that we have chosen the proper place to invest and start our business, do everything for the country’s and investor’s potential growth. ”
Recently, the Belarusian subsidiary of Olvi “Lidskoe beer” has concluded an agreement on cooperation with PepsiCo Inc, the second largest producer of soft drinks in the world. In this January the company has become a distributor of PepsiCo products in Belarus.
“In November, 2014 we signed an agreement on which had to modernize production and be ready for the July 1, — said Audrius Mikshis, “Lidskoe beer” director. – We purchased complex water treatment equipment; we also improved blending departments, bottling line and laboratory equipment. All was at the cost of 1.7 million euros. ”
Since July “Lidskoe beer” has began PepsiCo production on their own facilities. The company produces such brands as Pepsi®, Mirinda®, 7UP® packed in 0.5 liter, 1 liter, 1.5 liter each. The products are manufactured on Krones with the capacity of 12,000 1.5-liter bottles per hour.
Since 2007 in Belarus Kesko, a Finnish retailing conglomerate, has been successfully operating, managing a network of hypermarkets OMA. Kesko Corporation is the leading service provider of trading sector in the Baltic countries, Scandinavia, Russia and Belarus with a turnover of 8, 6 billion euros a year. The company owns two thousand stores in eight countries. At present OMA is one of the leading companies in the Belarusian market, which sales building materials and tools, goods for home and garden, and has branches in all regional centers of the country.
Other Scandinavian companies work enough actively on the Belarusian market. For example, Leipurin has opened Bakery Innovation Center in Minsk, Ingman has modernized Gomel refrigerating plant.
“The building blocks of a good partnership with Belarus are simple and obvious. In order to have successful cooperation with Belarusian companies you need to be a reliable and creative partner. In addition to commitments such partner should be flexible in discussing complex business issues, be open to new opportunities and approaches and think ahead. This is true to any relations, including business, ”- said the ambassador.
He stressed that the Belarusian side has no interest in a primitive scheme " buy-sell ". Belarus is more interested in development of modern international economic relations." Alexander Ostrovsky added that Belarusians and Finns hold a positive pragmatism in resolving business issues.
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