Bekkashkarov Igor Valeryevich

The Segezha Pulp & Paper Mill OJSC, Russia's largest producer of kraft paper and paper sacks, was founded in 1939 in the north of Karelia, 700 km to the North from Saint Petersburg , on the bank of Lake Vyg. At those times, the mill had the most powerful equipment in Europe. Up to the 1990s, two thirds of all paper sacks consumed in the former USSR were produced in Segezha. Since then, SPPM has retained its specialization, accumulating experience, renovating facilities and techniques, improving the production of its principal products: kraft paper and kraft paper sacks. The mill has an advantageous geographic location, in close proximity of the Belomor-Baltic Canal, the railway and the motor highway St. Petersburg-Murmansk, which allows using flexible transportation schemes to deliver products to customers. SPPM has been constantly modernized. The largest refurbishment of the mill was in the 1970s. A new stage of modernization covering the period up to 2005 started in 2000. A completely new and specific turn in the mill's history occurred in 2003 in connection with signing of the Agreement of Intent between the Segezha Pulp and Paper Mill, Sberbank of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Republic of Karelia for implementation of SPPM modernization and refurbishment project.