Vilmers and Šiauliai FEZ signed a cooperation agreement on April 30. The furniture manufacturer is becoming the fifth and largest investor in the Šiauliai Free Economic Zone.

“As long as the design works of the new factory are underway, and the construction raw materials and works maintain the growth trend, we consider the investments of 20 million euros in the Šiauliai Free Economic Zone to be preliminary. This does not include new production equipment that we intend to purchase. The doubling of the factory area and the almost 50% increase in the number of employees will allow us to meet the demand and increase the turnover approximately 3 times to 80 million euros, ”says Ovidijus Jalonskis, the director of Vilmers.

According to O. Jalonskis, the company could already employ about 600 people, but the development of jobs is limited by the area of ​​production premises and the lack of employees.

“We are becoming an increasingly attractive place to start a business, especially for those who work intensively with export markets. Investments in the infrastructure of Šiauliai FEZ amount to about 13-14 million euros. Meanwhile, when the city municipality invests in the civil part of Šiauliai Airport and the development of railway infrastructure, we have a unique road, railway and air transport hub, which is critical for business development, ”says Artūras Klangauskas, Head of Šiauliai FEZ.

The companies located in Šiauliai FEZ are: Reklamos diktatorius, which manufactures advertising stands, Medicinos linija, a manufacturer of innovative dental materials, Plus Windows, a manufacturer of plastic windows, and Bar Cargolift, a manufacturer of freight elevators.

This year, the design and site preparation works for the new Vilmers furniture factory will take place. Šiauliai FEZ furniture manufacturer expects to start production at the end of 2022 or the beginning of 2023.

The head of the furniture manufacturer states that although the demand for the products is constantly growing, it is planned to increase the production and the number of employees in the current premises as little as possible before the opening of the new factory.