Polish company expanding in Ukraine

Cersanit Invest, a wholly owned Ukrainian subsidiary of the Cersanit Group, has been awarded an E80.8 (zł.309.5) million loan by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The Polish producer of ceramic tiles and bathroom fittings plans to use the loan to finance the establishment of a greenfield production facility in Ukraine.

It is expected that the new plant, once in operation, will produce about one million units of sanitary ware and around seven million sqm of ceramic tiles each year.

Currently a quarter of bathroom fittings and half of all ceramic tiles used in Ukraine are imported. Local production will substitute the supply of Cersanit products from Polish plants and meet increasing demand for sanitary ware in the country. This expansion will help Cersanit to match forecasts of strong growth in the domestic sanitary-ware and ceramic-tiles market.

"We hope that the project will be one of many investments in Ukraine by Polish companies and its success may lead to increased Polish investments in this country and the region," commented Dragica Pilipovic-Chaffey, the EBRD's director for Poland and the Baltic States.

This is not the only Polish project the ERBD has recently financed in Ukraine. In November 2006, it signed a U40 (zł.153) million loan with Polish firm Barlinek, a manufacturer of wooden floors, allowing the firm to establish a production facility.

As of January 2007, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has committed E2.87 (zł.11) billion to over 130 projects in Ukraine.

Chris Gotowski