OREANDA-NEWS. October 11, 2011. A new driving chain factory owned by SIA Ditton Chain was opened in Daugavpils. Present for the ceremony were Saeima (the Latvian Parliament) Speaker Solvita Aboltina, Daugavpils City Council chairwoman Zanna Kulakova, as well as representatives of Ditton Chain and the Citadele Bank. The factory will be used to manufacture high-quality driving chains, which will be exported to the European Union and US market, reported the press-centre of Citadele Bank.

Financing from the EU and the Citadele Bank allowed Ditton Chain to reconstruct its manufacturing facilities, install new manufacturing equipment, and begin to manufacture high-quality driving chains for export. This work began in April 2010.

“Our aim in this project is to manufacture competitive driving chains with a high level of added value, particularly automobile chains and special chains for export to the EU and the United States, as well as, potentially, to the promising market of Russia and the CIS,” says Ditton Chain board member Raimonds Bruzevics.

The reconstruction of the manufacturing facilities included the installation of British-made turning and processing centres, Belarusian-made metal processing equipment, Japanese-made high-precision presses, and other equipment, most of which is very specific and was produced specifically for Ditton Chain.

“We are particularly pleased about our new kilns or thermal processing equipment for forging and nitro-cementing. These are German-manufactured kilns which reach a temperature of nearly 1,000 degrees Celsius, and that means that the parts, which are manufactured are particularly durable. There are the only kilns of their type in the Baltic States,” adds Bruzevics.

“Economic growth or decline cannot be expressed only in statistical numbers, and the opening of a new factory, similarly, does not just mean one more company or a greater amount of processed metal. The main focus of achievements and development is on people and their quality of life. That’s why I believe that the new factory relates to new jobs, a higher quality of life for families, as well as growth for people in the city and the surrounding region. That offers new hope for those who say that they are disappointed, those who have emigrated, and those who are still thinking about whether to stay here and have children and grandchildren here,” says Saeima Speaker Solvita Aboltina, adding that she is particularly pleased that the new factory was established specifically in Latgale.

“We are pleased about any project which helps companies to develop along with the Latvian economy, and we are honoured to have been able to help in implementing this project with Citadele financing. I hope that this example will encourage many other businesses in Latgale and elsewhere in Latvia to get busy in organising products aimed at the manufacturing of new and exportable products. This is an example which shows that positive changes are possible,” says Juris Jakobsons, Chairman of Citadele Bank’s Board of Directors.

“The latest Citadele Index study shows that it is particularly in the manufacturing sector that companies currently have the greatest need for loans from banks,” Jakobsons goes on. “This shows that there is much potential for the further development of manufacturing in Latvia, and it is very important for banks to be ready to work together with businesspeople. The presence of such export-capable companies is particularly important in Latgale so that economic development can be promoted here.”

Ditton Chain invested more than LVL 7.2 million in the reconstruction of its manufacturing facilities. LVL 3 million of that came from the EU’s European Regional Development Fund, while more than LVL 3 million were provided by Citadele. The company itself provided the additional funds for the project.

Ditton Chain hopes to create as many as 120 new jobs over the course of time so that it can gradually increase manufacturing output.