France's Lafarge and EBRD open road metal quarry in Chernivtsi region

The 725 Lafarge group of companies (France), jointly with the 4594 European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), has established an enterprise producing road metal and sand goods with a capacity of 600,000 tonnes/year in the village of Ispas (Vyzhnytsky district, Chernivtsi region), Ukraine.

"We plan to reach the designed capacity of the enterprise this season (April-November)," the deputy director general for public relations at the business department of Lafarge Crushed Ukraine (Kyiv), Oleksandr Rozhnov, said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine in Kyiv.

According to him, the enterprise, which is based on the Maidano-Ispaske sand and gravel deposit, was commissioned in early 2013. Its will have a workforce of about 50 people.

According to a press release distributed to journalists before the press conference, the investment in the project of Lafarge and its investment partner, the EBRD, amounted to more than UAH 27 million (€2.6 million).

Rozhnov explained that this project is implemented by the subsoil user on the deposit, Bukovynski Construction Materials, which is owned by Lafarge Aggregates Holding Eastern Europe, realising projects in Eastern Europe, created and owned by Lafarge (51%) and the EBRD (49%).

According to Lafarge Crushed Ukraine, the area of the Maidano-Ispaske sand and gravel deposit is 128.4 hectares. In particular, its licensed area is 121.6 hectares, and it has reserves of about 24 million tonnes.