As part of a visit to Hajigabul, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has attended the opening ceremony of a plant to produce ceramic slabs at the Gilan Seramik Park.

It was reported that Azerbaijan is the only country of the South and the North Caucasus and Central Asia to have such a plant. The construction of the plant, which covers as area of 27 hectares, was started in late 2009. The plant operates the equipment of the world’s leading companies in this field - the Italian company “Sacmi”.

This equipment enables production in accordance with international standards. The start-up of the enterprise will play a crucial role in meeting the needs of the domestic market for these materials. Along with this, the plan is to export products abroad in the future.

The establishment of new enterprises is also essential for increasing the rate of employment. Factory workers will have two canteens for 100 and 150 people. The four-storey 80-seat modern guest house built on the premises has all the conditions for guests and employees of the plant. The office building of the enterprise also has all the conditions for workers. There are modern conference and meeting rooms here, where various activities can be held. The two-storey exhibition hall demonstrates the products manufactured by the plant. In addition, there are warehouses of finished products and spare parts of equipment, a pump station, a boiler house and a transformer on the premises. The courtyard of the plant has been extensively landscaped and a playground set up.

It was noted that the plant consists of an indoor area covering 19,700 square meters. Competitive products will be manufactured here with the help of modern equipment.

President Ilham Aliyev launched the enterprise.

It was indicated that a total of 40.2 million manats was invested in the establishment of the enterprise. In order to purchase equipment and carry out construction activities, the National Fund on Entrepreneurship Support of the Ministry of Economic Development has allocated a soft loan of 5 million manats.

Production equipment was installed by Italian experts. The annual demand of the enterprise for raw materials is 80,000 tons. The bulk of these needs will be met from local resources, and some additives will be delivered from Turkey and Ukraine.

As a result of the geological research carried out in order to create a resource base for the plant, the presence of a sufficient quantity of high quality raw material deposits has been established on the territory of Absheron and Ganja-Gazakh economic regions. The plant will manufacture 1,815,000 square meters of floor slabs, 1,798,000 square meters of facing slabs and 165,000 linear meters of decorative slabs per year. In the near future, the enterprise will manufacture slabs of all sizes in accordance with demand.

It was mentioned that the plant is fully automated. Permanent jobs at the plant have been provided to more than 500 people. The plant will use a three-shift system, with 94 people working in each shift. As the plant expands in the future, the number of jobs will be increased.

During familiarization with the enterprise, President Ilham Aliyev was informed about another production site to be built at the Gilan Seramik Park – a new ceramic granite factory. It was noted that the objective in the construction of the enterprise is to increase the range and volume of production.

President Ilham Aliyev laid the foundation for the new plant.

It was reported that in the southern part of the plant there are plans to build an enterprise producing various shower cabins, baths and other equipment for bathrooms on an area of 15 hectares. The implementation of these projects will play an important part in the socioeconomic development of the region and improve the rate of employment.

Then the President reviewed the showroom set up at the enterprise. It displays products that are and will be produced at the plant. It was noted that in terms of their quality the products will be competitive in the global market.

President Ilham Aliyev then arrived at the management unit of the enterprise. Employees have all the conditions for normal work here. There is a photo stand reflecting the contribution of nationwide leader Heydar Aliyev and President Ilham Aliyev to the development of the Azerbaijani economy.

After praising the work done, the President of Azerbaijan gave the necessary instructions.