Fact-check: All wood-processing plants loss-making after $4bn-worth upgrade

ОАО Borisovdrev is the symbol of infamous modernization / TUT.by
ОАО Borisovdrev is the symbol of infamous modernization / TUT.by

Speaking on 31 May at the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of Belarusian Parliament, the National Assembly, Deputy Prime Minister Uladzimir Dvornik said that the state had spent $4 billion on the modernization of the wood-precessing plants and paper mills. "The money invested in the technical upgrade and new jobs has paid off. The modernization has yielded economic effect," Mr Dvornik said but did not corraborate his words with numbers.

Euroradio checked if the modernization of the wood-processing industry was so successful indeed. The 2018 annual reports of the wood-processing enterprises prove that no plant out of total nine was in the black. All combined, those nine enterpises generated BYN136.7 million ($65 million) of net losses.

Фактчек: модернизация деревообработки и правда “принесла экономический эффект”?
A workshop in Molodechnomebel not affected by the modernization / Euroradio

Gomeldrev was the biggest loss-maker in the industry in 2018 with the losses amounting to -BYN35 751 000. It is followed by Mostovdrev and Borisovdrev -BYN17 737 000 and -BYN17 188 000 correspondingly.

The remainder of the "Top 10" looks as follows:

Mozyr DOK — -BYN16 874 000;

Vitebskdrev — -BYN16 092 000;

Recycadrev — -BYN13 856 000;

FanDOK — -BYN9 298 000;

Ivacevicydrev — -BYN6 386 000;

Mogilevdrev — -BYN3 536 000.

The economic effect after modernization is obvious.