A regional project: Vileika Camembert is already in great demand, and Brie is next

Specialists of the Vileika production site of the MINSK Dairy Plant No. 1 Joint Stock Company have mastered unique competencies for Belarus in the production of a popular white mold cheese such as Camembert. On the initiative of the President, a workshop with a capacity of 3 tons per day, independent from the main production facility, was launched in the regional center on 31 December 2024.

The new line allows using a wide range of soft cheese recipes: feta, brynza, Kreshchenitsa, Queso, Fresco, Quartirolo, as well as premium cheeses with mold (Brie, Coulommier, Perail) and washed rind (Munster, Marual, Livaro, Pont-Lebec).

BELTA correspondents visited Vileika and witnessed how the new product disappears from the shelves of the brand store in a few hours. We learned that a candidate of technical sciences took part in the installation of the new line, the process is managed by two young specialists with honors diplomas, and also about how the Belarusian folk song "Kupalinka" is connected with an Iranian enterprise producing powder paints and why the 28th person to respond to the job offer of a CNC machine adjuster at OJSC Zenit-BelOMO was... the DIRECTOR of the joint-stock company.
A win-win start
The former Vileika Dairy Plant with a 75-year history, and now a production site of OJSC Minsk Dairy Plant No. 1, has previously produced cheeses . Soft, for frying, with fillers. Here, using the traditional method of churning cream, they make butter not only with different fat content, but also lactose-free and with many shades of taste. For example, with the addition of Provencal herbs and garlic. They send outside the country through the parent companycottage cheese and casein - to Uzbekistan , Kazakhstan , Azerbaijan , Syria and CHINA .

But in January 2025, the company, without exaggeration, found itself in the center of everyone's attention. Literally on the last day of the outgoing year, the first batch of an exact analogue of Camembert - premium cheese with white mold - was received in Vileika. Among the first to taste the new product, traditionally cutting the symbolic red ribbon, were the HEAD of the Presidential Administration Dmitry Krutoy and the chairman of the Minsk Regional Executive Committee Alexander Turchin.

And queues formed at the company store on Partizanskaya Street, 77 in Vileika - to try the delicacy, which is also cheaper than the analogues presented on the shelves: 6.93 rubles for a 125-gram head. In addition to local residents, gourmets from neighboring Ostrovets, Molodechno and even from Minsk came.
On the day of our arrival, they also sold out in a couple of hours, while we were filming and interviewing at the production facility. Here, as they say, no comment - super start! How luxury became affordable And the story began in 2022. Here is what Veronika Kovalenok, a native of Vileika, a quality engineer at the production site of OJSC Minsk Dairy Plant No. 1 , recalls. She came to the enterprise as a young specialist in 2010 after graduating from the Belarusian State Technological University: - There is quite serious competition in MILK processing. To be on the development trajectory, you need to constantly update the range. We decided to do this radically by adding a premium segment. At first, we tried to cook cheese with white mold in laboratory conditions. it worked. And soon the parent company decided to install a camembert production line on our site. I was just going on maternity leave then , came back - and did not recognize the enterprise. One of the buildings was completely reconstructed, partially completed. Where blue cheese is produced, other dairy products cannot be produced. There must be a completely isolated area. People in masks, gloves and special clothing - no manicures, false nails. The technological process at each stage is controlled by a laboratory. Despite the fact that the main production works around the clock, there are only two day shifts here. In fact, it turned out to be a separate small factory with its own hardware for receiving milk, a laboratory, a wash, a sewer, ventilation, temperature and humidity conditions according to the technological map, sanitary checkpoints, cloakrooms for employees and an inspection gallery for visitors.







Only large companies can afford such luxury. It is pleasant to realize that we were the first in the country to start producing a unique product. Now we are doing everything possible to perfect the technology and reach full capacity. The potential of the equipment is a line of soft cheeses, such as feta, feta, as well as premium segment with moldy ("Kulomye", "Brie") and washed rind ("Munster", "Marual"). By the end of the year, we will try to make brie cheese.

31 million 826 thousand rubles were invested in the reconstruction of the workshop according to the project included in the pool of the President's initiative "One district - one project", installation, commissioning works and equipment. 44 jobs have been created in addition to the 176 existing ones, a 20% increase in production volumes is expected.
- The workshop is already fully staffed, there is even a personnel reserve - a queue of people willing to work for us has formed. We offer a salary 20 percent higher than the average for the region, - we are heading to a new site with Anastasia Selyun, the head of the Vileika production site of Minsk Dairy Plant No. 1, chatting along the way. - Of course, it is difficult to find narrow specialists in a small town. We mainly give preference to those who worked in food production, know the specifics, sanitary and veterinary requirements . Many came who used to go to work in Minsk or Molodechno, a 20-minute ride by minibus to a city of 90 thousand. Training on site. This is done by the senior workshop foreman and two young specialists.
A French technologist accompanied the production for a month, while they were setting up the process from milk supply to receiving the finished product. He gave lectures for five days, starting with the quality of milk, it needs to be suitable for cheese in terms of the ratio of protein (at least 3.2%) and fat (from 3.4%), and up to practical advice and nuances. Under his leadership, those who participated in the commissioning made the cheese manually in the laboratory and only then automatically on the new equipment.
 
An experiment with a prolonged effect
One of the students of the French cheese maker, Alexandra Yarmots, is originally from the Drogichin district. Last year, she, like her classmate Kristina Protasevich, graduated with honors from the Pinsk Agrarian and Technological College. The girls came to Vileika to become master cheese makers of the new workshop.

They settled in separate rooms of the dormitory block provided by the enterprise, which also compensates part of the costs of renting housing - up to 5 basic units. Now the excellent students continue their studies by correspondence at the Mogilev University of Food and Industrial Technologies. - A technologist from France shared with us a historically established recipe for French Camembert, and suitable milkfound in the raw material zone of their district, an agricultural enterprise of the holding company Minsk Dairy Plant No. 1. Now we produce 1.5 tons per day, by April we plan to reach full capacity, - Alexandra, who was on shift, comments on what is happening behind the glass in the guest gallery. - The essence of the process: a normalized milk mixture is made, which goes through the stages of thermization, maturation, bactofugation, deaerating, pasteurization and goes into 7-ton tanks, where the starter and mold cultures (we get from Italy and France), calcium chloride are added, the components are activated with continuous mixing. Then the mixture goes into pools, where the milk-clotting enzyme is automatically dosed. After 40-50 minutes, the protein clot is cut, mixed, the whey is removed and the cheese grain goes to the conveyor. The full cycle takes about 3 hours. The formed heads are kept in moulds in the cheddaring chamber at a temperature of 27-29 degrees for up to a day. Then salting, drying and maturing. This is another 8 to 25 days, until mould forms on the crust and the active acidity pH is at 4.9-5.2.

According to the master cheesemaker, despite the fact that Camembert is packaged and goes on sale immediately after maturation, it has a different taste at each stage of its 45-day shelf life. From 15 to 25 days - the cheese is young with a curdled hard consistency, in the next 5 days near the crust melting occurs, but the core in the middle remains soft. On the 36th day, it is already a classic French cheese with a viscous consistency and a characteristic smell.

- And what will happen next - we are studying, - the girl smiles. - We want to conduct research in our own and other accredited laboratories, what the product will be like, say, 60 days after full maturation. The first batch has been aged since January 15.
For now, Belarusian Camembert is shipped to the domestic market, but in the future, up to 90% is planned to be exported to RUSSIA, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and other friendly countries.

Under the supervision of a candidate of technical sciences
On the day of our arrival, we were lucky to meet the immediate curator of the reconstruction, Vladimir Kleshchukevich, deputy chief engineer for development of OJSC Minsk Dairy Plant No. 1, who visited Vileika with a working audit.
Last year, he had to deal with two innovative projects at once - almost simultaneously with the Vileika project, a new production line for an analogue of the French Roquefort was launched in the agro-town of Naroch in the Myadel district, also on the initiative from the list of "One district - one project":

- If 10 years ago we had to advertise our blue cheese to the buyer, now, to meet the growing demand, we have doubled our capacity to 90 tons per month. In addition, the new equipment allows us to pack cheese in a gas environment to preserve live cultures.
The curator's verdict in Vileika: everything is going according to plan, people have mastered the necessary knowledge and are following the technology. The equipment is also in good hands, because Igor Vasilevsky, the head of the repair service, a candidate of technical sciences, is responsible for its impeccable operation, by the way, who is accustomed to working after work and on weekends if necessary. And, as it turned out, not only the site employees monitor compliance with the regulations:

- Before the equipment ended up with us, it was assembled at the supplier's site, tested, disassembled and delivered. The installation was also supervised by foreign engineers with the involvement of our electricians, instrumentation and control specialists and programmers. And now, with the help of modems installed at the so-called critical points, the process is monitored remotely. If something doesn't work out, they can immediately give you some advice online . And in case of problems, they should come and fix everything, under warranty - for two years free of charge.
Creativity with profit
An analogue of French blue cheese not only made a splash in Vileika, which became its birthplace in Belarus, but also contributed to the district executive committee exceeding the plan for attracting investments. With the task not lower than the 2023 level, they actually received an increase of 8% - 208.6 million rubles. Another important indicator of the standard of living - the average salary - also increased by 21.1%, although a more modest 12.1% was expected.
According to the deputy chairman of the Vileika district executive committee Marina Voznyak, in 2024 the revenue side of the budget also increased - by 17% more than a year earlier, with the task of 109.2%. And industrial production in actual prices increased by 16.5%.

Here, the contribution of one of the region’s gross-forming enterprises with a share of 26.4% in the total volume of industrial production is undeniable - OJSC Zenit-BelOMO.

The open joint-stock company is completing a major project to organize the production of innovative parts for targeting equipment and auto components with a total cost of 21.1 million rubles, included in the state program for innovative development of the country and, like the production site of Minsk Dairy Plant No. 1, which started three years ago.

We went there to find out the details. Moreover, the investment cycle at Zenit does not stop. Recently, the company sent another business plan for organizing the production of a centralized lubrication system for OJSC BELAZ worth 15 million rubles, calculated until 2029, to the competition of the Minsk Regional Executive Committee.

In 2024, OJSC Zenit-BelOMO invested a record 12 million rubles in the development of production. And over the past three years, investmentsin the main capital were more than in the previous 30 years.

Plus 100% every year
- Remember the nursery rhyme: "The firemen are looking, lookingpolice ... have been looking for a long time, but can't find ..."? That's how we did it. We looked for workers through the media, invited them, advertised in the housing and communal services that come to mailboxes every month, and nothing worked, - tells a curious story in the director's office, the head of the legal and personnel support department of OAO Zenit-BelOMO Sergei Gabrukovich. - But at the beginning of February, we received 27 calls! We agreed with one of the mobile operators to send SMS with vacancies and offered salaries to 10 thousand subscribers of Vileika and the region who left requests in search engines about work.
- I also received an SMS, and I called - by my first education, I am a 3rd category turner, - comments, smiling, the head of the joint-stock company Nikolai Gaichuk.
- I did not take into account your call, Nikolai Nikolaevich, - retorts Sergei Gabrukovich. - My 12-year-old daughter also received a message - in the summer she and her friend were looking for a part-time job on holidays. But seriously, 8 people passed the interview.
- Since the enterprise is developing rapidly, recruitment is the most urgent task today. 15-20 specialists of different profiles, engineering and technical workers and workers are needed right now, and taking into account the development prospects - about 50-60, - we continue the conversation with the director already on the way to the workshop, updated according to the innovative project, where only concrete walls and ceilings remained from the old one. - Over the past three years, we have tripled production volumes. The dynamics in 2024 is plus about 40% in current prices, salaries have been raised by a third. In a couple of years, it has even doubled. We need mechanics and opticians for the assembly section of sighting equipment, operators and adjusters of CNC machines for a completely reconstructed section, where we purchased milling and turning equipment - 25 high-performance machines. We are ready to take everyone, with any level and profile of education, and train them.

According to the innovative project, which is being completed this year, the purchase is planned 32 CNC machines. The already installed equipment has been used to manufacture optics with improved technical characteristics - world-class, as well as components for braking systems in the automotive industry. Volumes with a good increase to those already achieved have been contracted for the entire 2025 by partners from Belarus, near and far abroad countries. The products are supplied both directly and through OJSC MMZ named after S.I. Vavilov - the management company of the BelOMO holding and UP STC LEMT BelOMO.

The implementation of the project will double revenue, and triple exports. The lion's share is in the Russian Federation. The largest buyers are Ural, KAMAZ, in Belarus - BELAZ, Peleng, Minsk Tractor Works, Mogilevliftmash.
- The equipment allows us to reduce the time for changeover by 4-6 times, which is significant in the conditions of our small-scale production. We can obtain parts with specified technical characteristics, excluding automatic, finishing, grinding operations, - the director continues the tour of the practically deserted workshop with dense rows of machines, on which work is in full swing behind the glass - parts are being processed. - And with the highest precision. For example, screws. The minimum thread diameter that other companies grind is 3 mm, ours is 1.2 mm. Only automatic machines can handle such a level. In addition, we have a full production cycle, our own casting, blanking, stamping, galvanizing.
In the workshop, we meet the foreman Mikhail Sankevich. He graduated from the Maryinogorsk Agrarian and Technical College, but, putting aside his diploma, he worked as an operator of automatic sawmill lines until the end of 2022. And when the local woodworking company had problems, he began to look for a job. And on the advice of his wife, who worked as an assembler at Zenit, he came to the HR department. The very next day, Mikhail was not only hired, but also moved up a step in his career. His wife also plans to return to the enterprise from maternity leave.
Dynasties are very typical for OAO Zenit-BelOMO. For example, Sergei Kuchur, the chief technologist, included in the personnel reserve for the position of chief engineer and director, also ended up at the enterprise thanks to his wife Ekaterina, now the head of the planning and economic department, for whom Zenit was the first and, as she sincerely believes, a successful place to work.

Before joining the joint-stock company, Sergei was a mechanic in a military unit with a degree in forestry engineering. Now he has another one - from the Academy of Management under the President. His wife also graduated from this higher educational institution. Ekaterina is also a reservist for the position of deputy director for economics and finance.
The director himself is from the Zenit dynasty; his father worked there from the day the enterprise was founded on May 22, 1973. Nikolay was born on May 31 of the same year. So, Zenit-BelOMO OJSC and its director are the same age.
In love with Kupalinka
The Gate of All Nations in Iranian Persepolis is over 2500 years old. Their exact copy at the entrance of Bel Peka Paint is smaller. The Tehran company with 30 years of experience controls 60% of the local market and has invested about 27 million dollars in organizing the production of powder paints in Belarus, symbolically opening the plant on July 2 last year, for the 80th anniversary of the country's liberation.

New life was given to the unfinished and idle since the 1990s buildings of the pilot plant of special machines, equipment and tools in the village of Izbino near Vileika - 11 thousand square meters.

Currently, 130 employees earn a good living here, 90% of whom are from the Vileika district and Molodechno, they produce 5 thousand tons of paint per year, the potential is 8 thousand. The buyers are domestic, but mainly (80%) foreign auto holdings, manufacturers of household appliances, as well as Russian oil and gas workers.

Anton Semko, the manager of the repair and maintenance department, commutes to work from Molodechno. He remembers well how it all began and how trees grew on the roof of the failed plant. He came as a builder. They reconstructed new buildings, laid communications for several kilometers: gas, water supply, electricity, and with backup branches for safety.

Leon Solenik, the weighing line operator, has already become the best employee of the month twice in a year of work, whose photo is always posted on the Honor Board. Those who strictly observe safety precautions, wear glasses and masks are also noted and awarded.

Although the production is quite environmentally friendly. Breaks the stereotype that everything related to paint is not very healthy. If you do not know in advance, then, being in the workshop, it is difficult to imagine that durable powder paints for all kinds of surfaces are prepared here. A powerful ventilation system removes foreign odors. As Deputy Director of the enterprise Pouya Hamid Jalil

noted , at the end of March, it is planned to install two more lines to the existing five: - The decision to organize production in Belarus was certainly influenced by the friendly relations between our countries, the location of your country at the intersection of trade routes between the West and the East and a good base for production: comfortable roads, accessible electricity, water, land. And the mentality of the residents. There are no racial prejudices in Belarus, it is safe, the people are highly cultured and friendly. Very beautiful nature. Ten Iranian families moved to Belarus , their children go to local schools and plan to enter universities. And guests from a distant country make new friends, absorb Belarusian culture and master the local cuisine. Deputy Director for Construction Ebrahim Hani Jamshid came to Belarus 3.5 years ago with his wife. He says that back then he first tried borscht, draniki and syrniki, now his wife has learned to cook all of this. But Jamshid really fell in love with the Belarusian folk melody "Kupalinka". And this happened in his homeland 20 years ago at one of the ceremonies. Now, when he is in the mood, he performs the divine melody on national Iranian instruments. He dreams of singing. - Jamshid teaches me English, and I teach him Russian. That is probably why he speaks Russian poorly, and I speak English a little better, - jokes Anton Semko.

On this positive note, to the sounds of "Kupalinka" on Instagram performed on the tombak by an Iranian, we leave the hospitable Vileika land, where another project from the pool of the President's initiative has been successfully implemented. Well-paid jobs have been created, young people have the opportunity to realize their skills and knowledge and make a good career. Verified.

First-hand from
Anatoly Zavatsky, Chairman of the Vileika District Executive Committee:
- If we talk about the district's economy as a whole, then last year we managed to fulfill three development targets: for wage growth, investment in fixed assets and budget revenues.

Indicative rates for retail turnover have also been achieved, agricultural products were produced by 114.7% more than the target of 104%. 19.7 thousand square meters of housing were commissioned, plus 15.9% to the plan.
We are proud that Vileika has become the birthplace of Belarusian Camembert, we provide all kinds of assistance and support to the Iranian investor at the powder paint plant, and we are also pleased with the growth of wages at the value-forming enterprise of OJSC Zenit-BelOMO. We hope that their new business plan will be approved and will receive the necessary financial support, and this means new jobs and markets for high-tech products, and ultimately, financial stability.

In addition to the above-mentioned investment projects, OJSC Novaya Lyubaniya is building two cowsheds with a milking shop near the agro-town of Lyuban, completion is planned for this year, 14 jobs will be created. Two more similar projects - the construction of a dairy complex and farms - will start this year at OJSC Novaya Vilia and OJSC Alaya Zarya.

In May, RUE Belorusneft-Minskoblnefteprodukt will complete the reconstruction of a petrol station on the R-28 Minsk-Molodechno-Naroch highway. Next year, a multifunctional shopping mall will appear in Vileika.

We are really looking forward to investors in the village of Chizhevichi, where a land plot of 8.5 hectares with the possibility of connecting gas and electricity has been formed for a tourist complex.

It is difficult to overestimate the importance of capital investments in such small districts as Vileika - they have a beneficial effect on the economy, create well-paid jobs, increase tax revenues, improve infrastructure and help retain young people.