Dirk was established in 1993. It produces abradants used in abrasive blasting of metal and concrete surfaces.  The company used to supply shipyards, but currently its main customers are companies engaged in rustproofing works.

 

Krzysztof Szarłata, the owner of Dirk, has far-reaching plans. “Apart from the production plant and the storehouse, we are planning to erect facilities for recycling and neutralization of abrasives. Some of them will then be reused and some will serve as aggregate base for roads or grading. Thus, the actual waste will be reduced to three percent. We will also construct a storehouse for abrasives and a lab for the needs of the company”, he adds.

 

The company has bought 10 thousand square meters of land in Skolwin. The floor space of the building to be erected there will cover 1000 square meters and the company also intends to adapt two existing structures (covering the area of approx. 200 and 400 square meters respectively) which formerly housed the Skowlin paper mill (because of their historic value, they are under the supervision of a conservation officer restorer). In addition, Dirk must build a road system. Krzysztof Szarłata does not want to disclose any details on the investment value before the results of geological surveys are known.

 

The works connected with land preparation will begin at the end of June. If everything goes smoothly, Dirk will start production at the beginning of 2016, but the project needs EU subsidizing. 

 

Krzysztof Szarłata expects that the output of the facility will be within the range of 12 tons of abrasive per annum and will create several dozen new workplaces.

 

He admits that ever since the company had to leave Gryfia shipyard two years ago the operations of Dirk have been heavily restricted. Krzysztof Szarłata spent those two years on searching for the land that would be suitable for the new premises. “Szczecin does not have enough space to accommodate the needs of dynamic entrepreneurs. The town offers land requiring considerable financial outlays or plots of land that are too small and lack the proper infrastructure. Taking these factors into account Skowlin Industrial Park is ideal for our purposes”, he sums up.

 

Skowlin Industrial Park was established in 2014, when NPPN acquired 10 ha of land formerly occupied by Skowlin paper mill. The plan was to reinstate industrial activity on the site. NPPN divided the land into 15 commercial plots with the area of 5 – 15 thousand square meters each. An almost 4 thousand square-meter large storehouse and office building registered as a historic monument and two other smaller structures also form parts of the property.

 

A railway siding and electrical station situated nearby may be seen as solid arguments in favour of founding premises here. If need be, NPPN is willing to function as a substitute investor.

 

“Apart from the land we also offer services that consist in accommodating the land to the needs of its future owners, such as handling all administrative procedures connected with developing the land and building construction works”, ensures Paweł Włoch, the chairman of NPPN Sp. z o.o. Sp. K.

 

He claims that even this year NPPN will be able to start building structures for four companies from the yacht and shipbuilding sector. The majority of NPPN’s shares are held by the founders of EPA, among others its chairman, Jarosław Mroczek.

 

AK