District-scale project: a new chipboard plant is to be built in Ivatsevichi

At the initiative of the President, Ivatsevichi has launched the production of wood chipboards with a thermo-structured surface imitating concrete, metal, marble, leather, tapestry, and up to two dozen variations, which are unique not only for Belarus but also for the CIS countries.

BELTA correspondents went to see the new chipboard lamination line and learned along the way what kind of plant, twice as powerful as the current one, OAO Ivatsevichdrev is going to build by the end of the next five-year plan, why Svyataya Volya prompted a family from Kazakhstan to travel four thousand kilometers, and also celebrated Spring in the Ivatsevichi district consumer union.

Pioneers

... Alexander Shchurko, Deputy General DIRECTOR for Sales and Marketing at OAO Ivatsevichdrev, from the first minutes of our acquaintance suggests an experiment: with your eyes closed, determine by touch the material from which the company's new samples are made. I agree. And the fingers of the hands unmistakably guess the characteristic grooves and depressions of a brushed wooden board, the roughness of a piece of concrete, the interweaving of threads tightly stretched over a perfectly flat surface of a tapestry, the cracks and bumps of natural leather.
- Wood, concrete, tapestry, leather, - I quickly say out loud and open my eyes.

- All wrong, it's chipboard! - the experimenter smiles, clearly satisfied with the result. - More precisely, "plate materials with a thermostructured surface". OJSC "Ivatsevichdrev" is their first manufacturer in Belarus, RUSSIA and the CIS. They themselves formulated and introduced a new term into the technological dictionary, which will now be used by all our followers. They also had to write technical specifications for the new product, and a separate trademark appeared - "Dekta". The name is made up of parts of the words "decor" and "tactility". The new line, which was put into operation in November last year, allows for the production of not the usual laminated chipboard with a thin film layer on both sides, which is widely used in furniture production, but to imitate many surface variations as accurately as possible.

According to Alexander Shchurko, the base is also made in a special way - multi-layer chipboard, of increased density, so that it can withstand twice as much pressure as usual from the press. With its help, the necessary structure and relief are created on the surface.

- As a rule, such non-standard solutions are used in the furniture industry, for example, for the production of facades. But given that we have the ability to make the thickness of the board from 8 to 38 mm, the potential variability of using the new product is significantly expanded. This could be, say, wall panels. In terms of quality, the product can be compared with postforming for countertops - the characteristics of the surface layer are comparable to three-millimeter plastic, - we continue the conversation.
The furniture market shows a clear trend towards individuality. Large industrial companies are losing an ever-increasing share every year to companies that manufacture custom-made built-in kitchens, wardrobes, living rooms, and cabinets . Consumers are willing to pay for furniture integration into their living or office space, which will make the interior unique.
– For several years now, we have been observing the growing demand for more expensive, premium materials, and under the sanctions, it is even greater. Similar niche products in Europe are produced by representatives of small family-owned private businesses. From there, such goods were imported to Russia and Belarus . Now we will be able to produce the entire range of products presented on the market ourselves. The equipment meets the necessary requirements for quality and technology. And the cost depends on the layer of the protective "pie" and the depth of embossing – on average, it is 30–40% more expensive than regular laminated chipboard, with some options being 2–4 times more expensive. The most expensive to make is imitation stone, – the interlocutor specifies.

It took a little over a year and a half to implement the project from the moment the contract for the supply of equipment was signed to the release of the first board. Olga Shishkovskaya, the leading specialist in foreign economic relations of the enterprise, was an eyewitness and an active participant in the process.
Olga is a teacher of Belarusian, German and English by her first education (the second is in economics), graduated from the pedagogical university. Having received her master's degree, she returned to her native Ivatsevichi, but she came to find a job not at the school, but at OJSC "Ivatsevichdrev", where the construction of a new chipboard production workshop was just beginning and a specialist with knowledge of foreign languages ​​was needed - the equipment was contracted in Europe. She came to the foreign economic relations department in July 2008, and a year and a half later, in addition to the usual office equipment and stationery, the employee who was starting his career needed ... rubber boots.
- They were bright, flowered and really helped out. The company signed a contract for the supply of equipment, and I had to spend most of my working time at the construction site, where the supplier's representatives arrived. And this was an open field, where access roads were being created and foundations were being poured. I was engaged in visa support, contractual support - in a word, everything related to communications with partners. The experience was also useful in the implementation of a new investment project.

Olga recalls numerous trips to suppliers and users of the necessary equipment, the technical conditions and all the nuances were specified in the contract. It is important that the equipment works without fail. A wide range of specialists was involved. Fortunately, there was enough experience to make the right decisions - the company already has two lamination lines. Nevertheless, on those days when the units and the press were delivered and the installation of the line began, operators, engineers, technologists and programmers worked together with suppliers in 24/7 mode.

- We received the first plate on Friday, and immediately everyone began sending each other videos with enthusiastic comments: "Hurray! It worked!" - and signing on it. There is such a tradition: all participants in the process put their autographs. I am proud that my signature will remain in the history of the enterprise, by the way, my autograph is also on the first plate of the DSP-250 line.
Later, the first series boards, which were also signed by the chairmen of the Brest Regional Executive Committee, the Bellesbumprom concern, the district executive committee and other participants of the official opening ceremony of the new chipboard lamination line at Ivatsevichdrev OJSC, almost all of whose shares are state-owned, were presented to the heads of the region and the concern, who did a lot to implement the project.
- After the sanctions imposed by the EU and the US , we paused investment projects for a while to understand and analyze the new realities, - recalls the general director of the joint-stock company Alexander Ilnitsky. - And soon we made a decision to purchase a third chipboard lamination line in order to increase the added value of chipboards, which were previously sold in unprocessed form to the countries of the European Union. The project was supported by the Brest Regional Executive Committee with direct financing from the regional innovation fund and inclusion in the One District - One Project program, which made it possible to receive a loan at very effective rates. Thanks to these circumstances, we managed to implement it relatively quickly. The line enables the production of innovative products for Belarus in the premium price category with high added value, significantly expanding the range of colors and surface structures. The products are primarily aimed at the country's furniture manufacturers, which, in turn, will be able to be more competitive in foreign markets.

Optimal balance

According to Alexander Ilnitsky, the modernization of the woodworking industry began after the President's visit to Ivatsevichi in 2006. The result was the production of chipboard that meets world standards, previously imported into the country.
- Due to the introduction of the new line, we expect an increase in the production of laminated boards in 2025 by up to one and a half times. There is no doubt that everything will be in demand, -- says the CEO. - The year 2024 for Ivatsevichdrev OJSC is not far from one of the most successful years for wood processing in the country, 2021, in terms of economic results. We have very good indicators for revenue growth and net profit. Right now, there are two more investment projects in progress. One is relatively small: by the end of the year, we will organize the production of kitchen countertops. The equipment has already been partially purchased. But the main goal is to build another chipboard plant, twice as powerful as the current one. We hope to implement it by 2029. The new production will be directly connected to the existing site, which will reduce costs due to the ready-made infrastructure, speed up the implementation of plans and save on staff - according to preliminary calculations, up to 260 new employees will be needed, significantly less than in the main production.

In response to a logical question about sales markets, the CEO of Ivatsevichdrev OJSC says:

- When we introduced the first chipboard production lines, we focused mainly on exports , because the Belarusian industry at that time was not able to swallow large volumes of our products. However, the increase in the supply of wood boards had a positive effect on furniture production - it became possible to produce cheap, high-quality, diverse models. Thus, furniture makers increased their efficiency in foreign and domestic markets in competition with imports and significantly increased production. This is a logical process. Now we are no longer able to meet the existing demand - imported materials are used in the furniture segment. This is where the initiative came from.

The company has no problems with personnel today - salaries here are always higher than the average in the region, and the CEO really hopes that this will continue in the future. The company actively cooperates with BSTU, which covers the need for engineering and technical specialists.
- The calling card of Ivatsevichdrev OJSC is our employees, who are able to very quickly adapt to any challenges, external and internal. They are our support. Everything else is secondary. Hardware and electronics can be bought without problems, but it is impossible to find well-trained and educated specialists in such quantities.

After meeting the CEO and the office "white collars", we go to the new workshop, to the site where more than 100 years ago the Polish merchant Radmil built a sawmill, and in the 1970s they mastered chipboard. The new line was located on the large production areas after dismantling the old equipment.

Behind the inconspicuous metal doors, the main hero of the event is a huge press with improved characteristics, behind it are racks with matrices for creating relief surfaces and many more special processing zones.
We are met by Maksim Galaburda, the workshop foreman and recently elected deputy of the district Council. By education, he is a geography teacher. But just at the time when he was studying at a MINSK university, commissioning work was underway in his homeland in Ivatsevichi in the new chipboard lamination workshop. So the guy completed his fifth year in absentia, as an operator of the new line, then he was a foreman, HEAD of the quality control department. Since October 2024, he has been helping the company develop new production.

- Here we can make wood boards with a thermostructured surface more and faster, including premium class with synchropores, when the film decor is repeated by the structure of the embossing surface, and super matte, which does not leave fingerprints. Commissioning is underway, the other day, for example, we received a matrix that imitates wood. In total, the store is designed for 20 surface options. As a basis, we take a sanded board from the main production and laminate it with films, we also make them ourselves, we buy only some types of decor. In the press, which is now in front of you, the boards are loaded in pairs under pressure, the resin flows from the temperature - this is how we get lamination. The first advantage of the new equipment is that it allows you to lay several layers of film on the plate, this gives the surface a 3D effect, makes it more protected from moisture and temperatures, - seeing the head of the workshop Dmitry Fedkovich, Maxim immediately passes him the floor.
- Maxim was the shift foreman when five years ago I came to Ivatsevichdrev as an operator in the workshop for lamination and impregnation of chipboard-250 after the Bobruisk Forestry College, - Dmitry joins the conversation.

- And, by the way, he was the first to say right away that the guy would be the boss, - Maxim smiles. - Very efficient and has a good head.

In five years of work in production, Dmitry Fedkovich became not only the head of the new workshop, but also the founder of a dynasty. His mother traded her cooking profession for the position of quality control inspector:  

– I took over the workshop in May 2024, and since then everything has changed in it except for the walls and the roof. For a new powerful press in the old foundation, we had to dig a large pit, accept equipment, synchronize the work of all conveyors and mechanisms, and this is 7 sections. The quality of the line is more than decent, all components are from famous manufacturers - pneumatics, electronics. There is a store for storing plates that are fed to the press automatically, without human intervention.
As in 2012, when the construction of the workshop for the production of chipboard and laminated boards was completed, last fall, OJSC Ivatsevichdrev entered the labor market to fill the vacancies that had appeared . As a result, Kirill Maslyuchenko and Pavel Lushch ended up in the new workshop, they changed jobs in a private company manufacturing upholstered furniture. And if for Kirill everything is new, then Pavel has experience working at Ivatsevichdrev on previous lines. Six years ago, he quit – he was transporting upholstered furniture to Europe:

– As a former employee, they hired him without any problems. I have been working for three months. It was interesting to watch the installation; we were trained again, just like in 2012.

– A distinctive feature of our company is that we are constantly changing, and it is not only about the equipment, – emphasizes our guide to the enterprise Tatyana Dylko, Deputy General Director for Ideological Work. – We continuously train employees so that they can not only conduct high-quality negotiations, but also be at the proper level of corporate culture – focused on mutual assistance, understanding, the ability to interact in an informal setting and broadcast this to the outside. Quarterly meetings of the team with the General Director have become a tradition. They are announced in advance, you can anonymously ask him any question, send a rationalization proposal. This does not go unnoticed. We are trying to actively develop the Lean concept – process management aimed at reducing losses and improving the quality of products and service.

With care for villagers

All areas of the Ivatsevichi district consumer cooperative are imbued with thrift and economy, without them they would definitely not survive in the conditions of tough competition. The organization under the leadership of Elena Kuratnik has been in the top five in Belkoopsoyuz for several years. Success is in versatility.

The district consumer cooperative retail network includes 115 stores, 70% of which are in rural areas. Plus 6 auto stores deliver goods to more than two thousand residents of the district, including 53 villages where there are no longer any stationary retail outlets.
– Last year, thanks to the Decree of the President No. 309 "On support of consumer cooperative organizations", we acquired a new auto store, – we meet the chairman of the board of the Ivatsevichi district consumer cooperative Elena Kuratnik. – A great help for the organization will be the reimbursement of the cost of fuel for the delivery of goods to rural areas and the costs of operating mobile shops in accordance with the Resolution of the Council of Ministers dated 21.11.2024 No. 857.
 
Losses in trade and public catering are also compensated for by extensive industrial production, procurement and EXPORT.
Ivatsevichskoye raypo produces bakery and confectionery products, sausages and semi-finished MEAT products, soft drinks, syrups, spices, corn sticks, chips, as well as polyethylene, nails, construction mixtures, sewing and ritual goods. It bottles mineral and drinking water.
Last year, 2.1 million rubles were invested in development. For example, they purchased a climate chamber and a vacuum packer for the sausage shop and mastered the production of packaging bags for bread: previously, they spent 25-30 thousand rubles a month on their purchase, now they earn the same amount.
- Our traditional "brick" bread is famous not only in the region, guests from Russia always take it with them, - Igor Kostyuk, director of the branch of the "Cooperative Industry Plant", leads us to the shops. Numerous diplomas, certificates, grand prix of the exhibitions and competitions "Confectionary Olimp", "Smakota", "Prodexpo" are the merit of this team, which develops up to 40 unique new products per year. - Three types of sweet bread, which received the Grand Prix of "Confectionary Olimp" last year, were brought to perfection in taste, quality and price, the demand for them is growing, including among large chain stores.
And the branch "Koopzagotprom" last year paid the population for the delivered products - berries , vegetables, apples, grain, meat , as well as waste paper, polyethylene, ferrous and non-ferrous metals - more than 5 million rubles.

- The main income comes from the production of semi-finished meat products and sausages, we produce up to 16 tons of the latter per year. The higher the income of the population, the more dry-cured products they buy. Several years ago, their share was 10%, now it is about 30%, - notes the director of the branch "Koopzagotprom" Sergey Vabishchevich. - In 2024, berries and meat products worth more than a million dollars were exported to Russia and Kazakhstan .

In the sausage shop, we met Vesna Galina Nikolaevna, a mince maker. Last year she celebrated her anniversary, and this year she will celebrate 15 years of working in the consumer cooperative. But these events were overshadowed by another, no less important one - Galina's daughter became a celebrity in the region, having passed the centralized testing for 100 points. Mom's pride is now in her first year at the Faculty of Philology of BSU, studying Chinese and dreams of flying to CHINA for an internship.

A lesson in hospitality

And if the young student Irina from Ivatsevichi, who got a hundred points, dreams of going to the East , then the family of Svetlana and Vyacheslav Korobeynikov came from there to the Ivatsevichi district 10 years ago. Not from China, from Kazakhstan, Karaganda region, where they also worked in agriculture. But when large analogues of Soviet collective farms were disbanded there, farmers and private landowners appeared, many hired specialists lost their jobs. While looking for a new one, Svetlana's husband saw an ad from a Belarusian agricultural cooperative inviting tractor drivers. They immediately promised housing.
- After consulting, my husband got ready for the trip, - Svetlana recalls. - He flew to Minsk , got to the Kamenets district, stayed at a hotel and the next day went to meet the head of the farm. They showed him the housing, the place of work. And the decision was made. Within six months, we completed all the documents and moved for permanent residence. Then, following us, a neighbor moved to the Ivatsevichi district. She invited us to visit, and the agro-town with the poetic name of Svyataya Volya captivated us. We met Vladimir Grigorievich, I got a job as a secretary, my husband is a tractor driver. We moved to Belarus with two sons, now there are three of them. A good house, we connected it to gas, we plan to buy it from the farm as property. There is a vegetable garden. We keep chickens and piglets. The eldest son entered the Ivatsevichi Lyceum, dreams of becoming a programmer. He is not drawn back to Kazakhstan at all, perhaps only to visit his sister.
One can say that a Kazakh diaspora has already formed in OJSC "Svyataya Volya" - 6 families have moved there. Director of the joint-stock company Vladimir Lyubushak is only glad to have good employees:

- My secretary has a higher education, a teacher, knows everything, is in control of the situation, can both draw up a report and order fertilizers, if necessary.

The joint-stock company has 287 employees. 10,200 hectares of land, 7.5 thousand heads of cattle, 2,700 cows, each of which milked 10,831 kg last year, plus 2,217 to the 2023 figure. Productivity per worker is 165 thousand rubles, an increase of 27% compared to last year. All due to dairy production, which they plan to expand. This year, they are completing the construction of a dairy farm for 2,200 animals.

- We try to properly prepare feed, we purchased special belt swathers so that peat does not get in with the grass, increasing the ash content. We cut corn no lower than the third knee. We mow clover, dry it and collect it in swaths. It perfectly preserves its nutritional properties. We received more than 2 thousand tons of rapeseed - it contains valuable protein supplements, without which there will be no extra-grade MILK. We are trying to grow soybeans. We have a one-and-a-half-year supply of herbaceous feed for animals - 58 centners of feed units.
Without tiring us with figures for long, the head of the farm hurries to show us everything. And already on the approach to the MTF "Obrovo" we understand why the farm increased milk yield by almost a third last year. Not just a lot of feed has been prepared here, there are literally heaps of it. And there is perfect order all around. The owner here is 38-year-old Veronika Spichenok, a mother of six children, by the way. She is also not a local, she moved with her husband from the Minsk region, where after the sixth maternity leave with a diploma from the Polesie State University in the specialty "economics and management at the enterprise" she could not find a job, and her husband was left without a job. But now the mother of many children with a non-core education demonstrates impressive results:

- Now we milk an average of 29 kg of milk per cow per day, although we started with 10 kg, when OAO "Obrovsky" and our farm were just annexed to "Svyataya Volya" in 2021. Although I grew up in a village, I was far from agricultural production, my parents are teachers. I study advanced experience. How to get a lot of milk and good quality? The secret is incredibly simple: discipline and technology. I have a closed-type production - heifers from birth, a total of 2210. 54 workers under my command. Now we are third in the region in terms of milk yield. The minimum task is to overtake competitors by summer.
Veronica is actively helped by her husband, who works on the same farm. And sometimes - by the growing Mikhail, Alina, Stepan, Carolina, Efim and Emilia.

And on this optimistic note, we say goodbye to the hospitable Ivatsevichi district, where the implementation of promising investment projects changes people's lives, sometimes even very radically. But the main thing is for the better. Verified.

More than half of the revenue of the Ivatsevichi district is generated by industrial enterprises, mainly woodworking ones. The largest of them is OJSC "Ivatsevichdrev". The leaders of the food industry are the branches of the "Cooperative Industry Plant" and "Koopzagotprom" of the Ivatsevichi district consumer society.

According to the results of 2024, the industry of the Ivatsevichi district increased production in actual prices compared to last year by 10.7%, revenue from the sale of products, works and services - by 16.7%, net profit - by 2.3 times.

Farmers sold 11.4% more milk than last year. Average milk yield per cow is 7567 kg, average daily weight gain during cattle rearing and fattening is 710 g.

One of the major investment projects for the reconstruction of dairy farms is being implemented by OJSC Svyataya Volya. By the end of 2024, the farm increased milk production by 27.2%, receiving 10,831 kg from a cow. Among the agricultural organizations of the district, the joint-stock company has achieved the highest level of average monthly wages, by the end of the year it increased by 42%. Director of the joint-stock company Vladimir Lyubushak was awarded the Gratitude of the Presidential Property Management Department.

First-hand
 Vladimir Belov, Chairman of the Ivatsevichy District Executive Committee:

- A significant number of woodworking industries in our region is not accidental - more than 55% of the land is occupied by forests. The construction of a new chipboard plant planned by OJSC Ivatsevichdrev will be the next stage of investment development of the enterprise and the economy of the district. The volumes of unclaimed low-grade wood resources can and should be involved in production as much as possible. In addition, the implementation of investment projects in the real sector of the economy ensures the creation of highly productive jobs, growth of added value, receipt of additional taxes, and ultimately - an increase in the well-being of people. Along with woodworking, agriculture
occupies a leading position in the economy of the region , so special attention is paid to its development. We plan to continue the construction and reconstruction of dairy farms, their modernization, the acquisition of equipment to improve efficiency.