Heidelberg wants to lease Belarusian plant

HeidelbergCement is in talks with Belarus’ Architecture and Construction Ministry to take a lease of the Belarusian Cement plant, based in the Mogilev Region, for five years with an option to extend the lease, a ministry official told Prime-Tass Thursday. HeidelbergCement proposes to invest about US$3m in the plant during the five years, which would allow it to increase cement output at the plant by 48 per cent to 1.061Mt and enter foreign markets via the German company’s distribution network.  In the event of the government deciding to privatise the plant, HeidelbergCement is prepared to receive the plant in trust management, the official said. 

Belarus Cement plant was commissioned in 1996. Its annual capacity stands at 850,000t of cement.  In 2003, the plant produced 716,800t of cement, up 4.9 per cent on the year, with Belarus’ total cement output rising 13.9 per cent on the year to 2.5Mt