Ukrainian company re-launches the largest metallurgical plant in Latvia

The largest metallurgical plant in Latvia Metallurg Liepaja, now called KVV Metallurg Liepaja, was officially opened on Friday and is set to resume full production in April.

The rolling mills of KVV Metallurg Liepaja have been operating since mid-February and have reached an output of 15,000 tons of products. The plant also produced the first batch of 5,000 tonnes of steel reinforcement and will begin exporting to Algeria in March. In February, KVV Metallurg Liepaja began testing machinery and equipment at one of the company's facilities. In the early stages of operation, the rolling mill will produce 35,000 tonnes of steel rebar per month.

In 2013, the plant went bankrupt after the company faced financial problems and was sold in October 2014 to the Ukrainian company KVV Group for 107 million euros. Valeriy Krishtal, owner of OKKV Metallurg Liepaja said that “it is very important for us that the corporation, which has experience in the field of metal production, enters the European market. Latvia has become a window to Europe, and we would like to develop this direction ”. The plant currently employs 500 people, but there are plans to increase the number to 1200 to 1400 workers.

Before bankruptcy, Liepaja Metallurgist was one of the largest industrial enterprises in the Baltic States and also the largest exporter in Latvia, accounting for 0.7-1 percent of Latvia's gross domestic product. Thus, the resumption of production at the plant will be an important event for the Latvian economy.