Volma Corporation and Knauf are building a new plant for Belgips in Gatovo, Minsk region, to produce gypsum products and construction mixtures. Investment is about 60 million euros, with capacity of 30 million m² of plaster wallboards, 500,000 m² of slabs, and 120,000 tons of dry mortars per year. First products expected in October 2018.
Knauf acquired a 50% stake in Corporation Volma LLC (Russia), which is a major shareholder of Belgips, a Belarusian gypsum plasterboard manufacturer. The transaction will also fund a new manufacturing facility for Belgips.
Knauf is expected to become joint owner of Belgips, a gypsum wallboard producer in Belarus, by purchasing half of the company from Russia's Volma. The transaction is pending approval from competition bodies.