PRESIDENT OF SWISS CONFEDERATION VISITS GARADAGH CEMENT COMPANY
While in Baku, President of the Swiss Confederation Pascal Couchepin and his accompanying delegation visited on Sunday the Garadagh Cement joint-stock company.
The construction of Garadagh Cement Plant was started in 1949 as per the Decree of the USSR Council of Ministers and soon was put into operation in with two wet kiln lines. The plant contributed greatly to providing with cement mass construction in the former Soviet Union.
Increasing demand to cement in the former Soviet Union required the launch of three more kilns in 1957 - 1964, which led to significant increase in the production volume.
Garadagh Cement Plant was considered as the largest enterprise among Caucasus countries for its production capacity.
The plant provided employment to qualified specialists whereby the production volume was raised up to 1.500.000 tons in 1970s.
However, the collapse of Soviet Union caused significant negative consequences in the production volume. The limited production continued until the privatization of the plant by Holcim Group of Switzerland.
In 1999, Garadagh Cement Plant was renamed to "Garadagh Cement" OJSC. On September 25, 1999 majority of the company shares were acquired by Holcim Group, which contributed greatly to enhancing the performance of the plant i.e. the production volume reached accordingly 900 000 tons in 2003, 1 140 000 tons in 2004 and it is planned to reach production volume target 1 330 000 ton in 2008.
Currently, "Garadagh Cement" OJSC produces cement through four kilns.
Swiss delegation toured the facilities here and watched the production process.
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