Estonian BLRT Grupp Investing 20 Million EUR in Klaipeda FEZ

Subsidiaries for the BLRT Grupp, an Estonian ship repair and metalworking group, have signed a contract with the Klaipeda Free Economic Zone (FEZ) concerning investment into commercial, warehousing and manufacturing premises. In the next couple of years, the Estonian group plans to spend around 20 million EUR on projects spanning 7.6 ha of the FEZ territory.

The investment project will be implemented in several stages. Elme Metall, which is part of the BLRT Grupp, has already started to design its commercial, warehousing and administrative premises. This stage of the overall project is expected to be concluded with the company starting its activities in the new premises by the end of 2020. In stage two, BLRT group will build a modern metalworking facility.

“This client chose us for our developed FEZ infrastructure and our ability to develop a complicated greenfield investment project in less than a year from contract signing. Additionally, we can once again offer terms for multi-faceted business activities: we do not only meet manufacturing needs, we can accommodate commercial, warehousing and administration activities as well. We are happy that BLRT is strengthening our metalworks and engineering company portfolio further,” says Eimantas Kiudulas, the CEO of the Klaipeda FEZ.

Vytautas Jankunas, the CEO of Elme Metall Lithuania, says that all operations of BLRT Grupp in the Klaipeda region take place in the territory of the Port of Klaipeda. However, the company seeks extra space to accommodate its growth ambitions, as well as a modern manufacturing and logistics facility.

“Our new premises at Klaipeda FEZ will ensure better conditions and service for our customers. It will also strengthen our positions in the Baltic markets and Lithuania. We will benefit from the infrastructure of Klaipeda FEZ from the logistical standpoint as it has direct rail and motorway access,” says V. Jankunas.

The entire BLRT Grupp currently consists of more than companies and subsidiaries in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, Poland, Russia, Ukraine and Norway. The group specializes in shipbuilding and repairs, metalworking and engineering, complex metal structures, metal processing, as well as transportation, logistics and port services.

Elme Metall is specializing in metalworking, processing and commerce. The company has more than 500 employees in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, Poland and Russia. Its infrastructure consists of 14 logistics and 6 service centers with total area exceeding 300.000 sqm. Elme Metall caters to customers mainly from the Baltics, Scandinavia, Russia and the CEE in shipbuilding, wind energy, oil&gas, machinery and civil infrastructure areas.

BLRT Grupp becomes the 35th investor operating at the Klaipeda FEZ. Last year, FEZ investors reached 1.2 billion EUR in income, generating more than 610 million EUR in exports alone. In total, the Klaipeda FEZ attracted more than 634 million EUR in foreign direct investments.