Ukraine's Donetsk-Vtorma moves from waste collection into board production and plans to grow further
August 2007
By Iryna Van den Neste
Ukrainian board producer Donetsk-Vtorma (Donetsk, eastern Ukraine) started out as a supplier of waste paper to the country's Obukhov (Kiev Cardboard Mill) and Izamail mills. Later, the firm began corrugating topliner sourced from Kiev Cardboard (80%), Moldova's Mold Karton and the Lithuanian firm Klaipedas Kartonas.
In 1998, under the aegis of Ukraine's current prime minister (then governor of Donetsk oblast) Victor Yanukovich, the Donetsk Free Economic Zone (FEZ) was established. Under the terms of the FEZ, investment projects in certain industries (including pulp and paper) would be supported by tax breaks and other means.
As a result, in 2000, Donetsk-Vtorma decided to start making its own containerboard, purchasing a second-hand machine from a mill in Turkey, a unit originally designed to produce offset paper. Born in 2003, PM 1 has been regularly improved, culminating in a major overhaul earlier this year, which has doubled capacity. The Czech supplier Papcel added a closed pressure headbox, while Nelba was brought in to modernize the frame and press section (following on from improvements to these areas it had made in 2003).
A 40,000-tonne/yr pulp line was added in 2Q 2007, along with a second-hand 100 tonne/day hydropulper (supplied by Kadant). Further improvements will be carried out later this year. In September, the mill intends to switch from by-product coke fuel for its boilers to the more economical and environmentally sound gas.
In the final quarter of 2007, Donetsk-Vtorma plans to add white-top liner to its portfolio of grades. The mill is in the process of negotiating the supply of bleached softwood pulp with Russia's Arkhangelsk Pulp and Paper Mill and Estonian Cell.
Unlike many middle-sized mills in Ukraine, Donetsk-Vtorma has a stable market position. The bulk of its board - 80% - goes to an integrated corrugated plant, while the rest of the output is sold on the home market (Kherson, Dnepropetrovsk, Lugansk, Poltava and Zaporozh'ye regions) and exported to Armenia and Russia.
Two steps ahead
According to paper production manager, Egor Kuznetsov, current modernization is the first step in bringing the mill to a new scale. Before 2010 Donetsk-Vtorma plans to install two more paper machines -- a tissue machine with a capacity of 11,000 tonnes/yr, and a board machine to boost total board capacity to 50,000 tonnes/yr.
