OREANDA-NEWS. October 27, 2009. Belarus’ OAO Belsolod, the country’s only producer of malt, reported a 14.1% decrease in output in January-September 2009 over the same period of 2008 to 54,180 tonnes, a source in the company told.

Belsolod shipped 39,623 tonnes of malt to the domestic market in January-September, up 3.3%, while exports fell 77% to 8,126 tonnes. In monetary terms, exports dropped 83.9% to USD 3.623 million.

Belsolod on August 7 suspended its operations for reconstruction and plans to resume production on November 1, 2009.

The reconstruction, worth an estimated 92 billion rubles, is required to double the malt-producing capacity to 130,000 tonnes without additional energy costs. It is planned to install almost 16 million euros’ worth of Swiss Buhler AG equipment at Blsolod.

The reconstruction is scheduled to be completed in 2010. Belsolod was established in 1989 and transformed into a joint stock company in 1996.