The Belarussian wood processing industry will become more competitive following the construction of a new timber sawmill in south Belarus being supported by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). A new privately-owned sawmill will be constructed by Kaamos Timber on a brownfield site near one of the country’s oldest towns Mozyr.

A 7-year EBRD loan of up to EUR 15 million will finance a production facility, which will annually produce around 250 000 m3 of sawn softwood. It will be exported to existing and new markets.

The Mozyr sawmill, owned by Kaamos Timber, a subsidiary of Estonia-headed Kaamos Group a capital-based company that operates in the area of property development, construction, and sawmill industry, will create around 100 new jobs in Mozyr and help Kaamos Timber to almost double its current annual production capacity in Belarus – 450 000 m3 of sawn softwood.

The EBRD has worked with Kaamos Timber for more than two decades and successfully implemented a similar project in the town of Vitebsk, in northern Belarus.

Since the start of its operations in Belarus in 1992, the EBRD has invested almost EUR 2.7 billion in 119 projects in various sectors of the country’s economy.