OREANDA-NEWS. At the 19th Annual Adam Smith Conference. Pulp and Paper in Russia and the CIS, Timofey Sokolenko, Vice-President, Sales Management, spoke about Ilim's plans the expand its high-quality domestically-oriented product mix.

In his presentation, Ilim's Vice-President, Sales Management, pointed out that in 2013 Ilim launched production of Omela, Russia's first coated freesheet paper, in Koryazhma. Presently, Ilim manufactures gloss and matte coated paper with a basis weight of 105 gsm, 115 gsm, 130 gsm, and 150 gsm, both in reels and sheets with the sizes most popular in the domestic market. Ilim's mill in Koryazhma producing Omela has been certified in accordance with FSC, ISO 9001 and 14001, and OHSAS 18001 standards. Omela paper also complies with the EU technical requirements (ISO 12647 Printing Standards).

Ilim believes that the Russian coated papers market will be stable in the near future while Ilim expects to increase its share to 45%. Ilim plans to start manufacturing 90 gsm coated paper and papers of nonstandard sizes under Omela brand in 2015. By 2019 Ilim plans to produce coated paper with a basis weight ranging from 90 through 170 gsm of standard and nonstandard sizes in all finishes.

"We consistently fulfill our plans in line with our strategy and will continue to work on expanding our coated paper mix, improving customer service and enhancing the quality of our products which are already in compliance with the highest European quality standards", said Timofey Sokolenko.

In his presentation, Ilim's Vice-President, Sales Management, told the conference participants that Russia's only premium A+ grade cut-size was successfully qualified in cooperation with International Paper.

It became possible to manufacture a product able to substitute import owing to completion in 2013 of the Big Koryazhma investment project worth over USD 270 million. As part of this project, cutting-edge papermaking facilities were installed in Koryazhma to produce 220,000 tons of high-quality cut-size, offset and coated paper per year. The new facilities will primarily cater to the domestic market. In such a short period Ilim Group succeeded in getting up and running production of highest-quality products which are very popular in the domestic market.