Bref from Serbia for entire Europe - Henkel poured EUR 21 m in new Krusevac-based plant

Bref plant (Photo: Irina Milošević)

On Tuesday, (November 25, 2014) Henkel officially opened the new section for production of "bref" in Krusevac-based plant. The investment totaled EUR 21 m and

New plant will produce toilets refreshers "bref balls", and as Vojkan Maric, the head of Henkel Serbia in Krusevac said, the annual section capacity is 120 million production units.

- The production start was excellent so we reached efficiency very quickly. The efficiency planned for a year after the opening was achieved in the first three months and this is unique case in the world. Although the primary plan was to produce 8 million of "bref balls" , as of September 1 until today , generated production is 18 million units –Maric said.

Toilet refresher, "bref balls" are produced only in Krusevac and Henkel Hungary’s plant. More than 95% of "bref balls" produced in Krusevac-based section are exported into 22 regional and European market covering 55 million consumers. Apart from the states in the region, product is exported to France, Germany, Benelux countries, etc.

Building in line with the most modern standards

The head of Krusevac-based Henkel, adds the construction of Bref plant started in March this year and it ended September 1, which was a month before deadline.

- Bref plant was built in line with the most modern Henkel standards. The section occupies 5.500 m2 and local companies were contractors. The equipment was supplied from renowned producers mainly from Italy and Germany – our collocutor outlines.

The building of the new section is, as Maric told us, in the process of obtaining LEED - energy efficiency standard. Henkel in Krusevac is the first company in Serbia which received ISO 50001 international standard for efficient energy management.

- We are one of the rare companies in Serbia which complied with all these standards. For many companies it is difficult to opt for that decision because at the beginning it significantly boosts the investment amount but in the long run it is an investment in the future–Maric outlines.

A total for EUR 160 m invested in 12 years

Vojkan Maric outlined that Henkel has been operating successfully in Serbia for more than 12 years and that so far it poured more than EUR 160 m in Serbian market.

- This investment is another proof of strategic role of our Krusevac-based plant and we are very proud of the fact we succeeded in generating new vacancies.

Bruno Piacenza, Managing Board member at Henkel at the global level and the executive manager for the Detergents and household chemicals Henkel global, outlined that this German company invests in Serbia since they reached the leading position in there production programs – detergents, beauty and glue production.

Upon the opening, the Prime Minister of the Government of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, said the new plant is extremely important for the city of Krusevac as well as for the domestic market generally speaking snce it strengthens economical potential of the region. The struggle for new vacancies is the priority and therefore “the opening of this section is a huge step in reaching that objective and is a proof the German companies recognize Serbia as a favorable business environment”.

Warehouse

In April this year, Henkel in Krusevca opened the warehouse with the capacity of 8.600 pallets, where it poured EUR 4 m. The central warehouse, as Vojkan Maric says, was a necessary precondition for the opening of new Bref plant.

Current experience, as the first man of Krusevac-based plant say, is excellent since the new warehouse enables business and Henkel to expand in the region.

Henkel is developing plans for the next year. Not revealing details, a collocutor of eKapija announced they are planning modernization of the existing sections as well as capacity expansion which will enable new hires.

- Krusevac was defined as a strategic location for expansion of Henkel in the region and Europe and therefore we expect new investments in the upcoming period - Vojkan Maric concluded.

I.M.