Slovenian Vipap Videm phases out pulp production

Aug 30, 2006. /Lesprom Network/. The night shift of the pulp-and-paper mill Vipap Videm cooked its last batch of pulp on Monday, with the company expected to close its pulp mill early on Wednesday, ending 67 years of pulp production in the town of Krsko, STA reported. Pulling the plug on pulp production is the last phase of the Euro 112 million ecological restructuring and modernization of the Krsko plant, carried out during the past nine years. In line with the plans, Vipap Videm is laying off 330 and keeping 440 employees. It believes that between 25 and 30 of the redundant workers have already found new employment. Meanwhile, efforts will be made to find employment for the rest in cooperation with the Posavje labour fund, established by the government to carry out active employment policy. A new paper-making line is planned to be set up by 2010 in place of the closed pulp plant, using recycled fibres and thermo-mechanical wood. The pulp-and-paper mill Vipap Videm goes back to 1939, when Slovenian entrepreneur Franc Bonac built the factory in the rural region of Spodnje Posavje and employed 180 locals. The company was bought by a Czech investor after going bankrupt in 1996 and has been in the hands of the Czech bank Ceskoslovenska ophodni banka (CSOB) since 2000. Its CEO Oldrich Kettner said in May that the modernization of the company presents the largest investment in 2006, explaining that the upgrade is meant to ensure production of high-quality paper from recycled paper. The company produced a record 180 000 tonnes of paper in 2005, Mr. Kettner revealed.