OREANDA-NEWS. May 28, 2010. On May 26 there has been held a regular session of the working group on assistance in involvement of investments into economy of the republic, chaired by the Prime Minister of the Government of Karelia Pavel Chernov.

Currently in Karelia implementation of some large projects proceeds, and the Government is watching closely the related state of affairs. Sessions of the working group consider specific problems and difficulties which investors face and find proper solutions.

This time the working group concidered three significant issues. The first concerned the course of implementation of the project of Swedwood Karelia, Ltd., regarding the furniture enterprise construction in Kostomuksha. Currently there have been implemented two phases of the project. In August of 2006 there have been started up a saw-mill, and next August - the gluing shop of the factory producing furniture boards. The enterprise has created 568 permanent workplaces. In 2008 construction of the factory was launched, however, due to the consequences of the global financial crisis and energy resources price growth the project was temporary suspended. Today, according to the director general of Swedwood Karelia, Ltd., Pontus Stork, one of the obstacles to the beginning of implementation of the third phase of the project are reduction in demand for production, high raw material prices and electric power tariffs. The Prime Minister has charged the branch ministers to study the situation thoroughly and to consider measures to support the enterprise.

The working group has also considered presentation of the project presented by the Okhta Group holding concerning reconstruction of the territory of the first site of Onego Tractor Plant in the center of Petrozavodsk. The holding is engaged in re-arrangement of industrial sites which used to belong to enterprises and subsequently alloted for reconstruction, projecting and construction of hotels and office buildings, as well as business centers. Projects of Okhta Group have been realized not only in our country in Moscow and St.-Petersburg, but also in Vienna, Leipzig, other cities of Germany and Poland. During their implementation at preservation of historical shape of buildings on the spot of former industrial buildings there appeared social and cultural centers.

As the vice-president of board of Okhta Group, Ltd., Dmitry Kiselyov has informed, the Petrozavodsk project should solve the problem of lack of the modern recreation centers in the city, new trading and business sites. It is supposed, that in 5-7 years in city centre of the quay of Lososinka River adjoining the former territory of the factory will be equipped, there will appear an indoor shopping and entertainment center, a modern museum, walkways and parkings, hotels and even a residential settlement. This investors should restore life-support systems: heat- and water supply and drainage systems and to conduct a competition of architectural concepts which Petrozavodsk architects will join fully. The beginning of the first phase of reconstruction is scheduled for the next year.

The third project considered was Lostomuksha Building Company, Ltd.; it is included into the list of priority investment projects in the field of forest development. The project assumes creation of logging and wood-processing with use of advanced technologies on the basis of the enterprise. As director of the building company Alexander Potakhin has told, the full cycle of wood-processing is already started in Kostomuksha, 52 additional working places have been created. Further the enterprise should purchase log trucks for timber transportation and install some additional equipment. In the long term prospect the company will start production of pulpchips from wastes of production. As a result, capacity of the new enterprise will make up to 170 thousand cubic metres of logged and processed timber.