OREANDA-NEWS. April 20, 2010. The Austrian Kronospan Holdings Ltd has plans to invest in the Belarusian woodworking projects. The issue was discussed at a meeting of Prime Minister of Belarus Sergei Sidorsky with the representatives of the company, reported the Official website government.by.

“You have offered investments to Belarus. You have interesting proposals that we can consider today,” said Sergei Sidorsky addressing the representatives of the Austrian company.

According to the Premier, woodworking is the country’s steadily developing that includes many export-based manufactures.

Kronospan Holdings Ltd is interested in developing the production of laminate flooring, chipboard, impregnated paper, OSB. A preliminary amount of investments in the project is USD150 million, with an annual production output reaching USD120 million. The project will provide 300 jobs.

According to Kronospan Holdings Ltd owner and executive director Peter Kaindl, Belarus is a country with big raw material potential and necessary highly-qualified personnel. “You have wonderful timber and a rich experience in furniture production,” he said.

Kronospan Holdings Ltd owns 30 manufacturing facilities in 18 countries. The company is the UK’s leading manufacturer of high quality wood-based panels and associated products. Combining its 115-year-long unrivalled manufacturing experience with the very latest scientific and technical innovations, Kronospan fulfils the needs of thousands of customers nationwide in the furniture, construction, distribution and DIY industries. The company has been heavily investing in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

In January-February 2010 the trade between Belarus and Austria fell 4.3% to USD 22.2 million, as compared to the same months of 2009. Austria mainly imports Belarus’ ferrous metallurgy products, timber, chemical products, food and agricultural make, glass fiber.