The paper manufacturer Apis has invested almost PLN 60 m in the former paper mill with a surface area of 20 k sq. m. PLN 7 m of the total amount went towards modernisation, refurbishment and construction work; the cost of the production line and equipment totalled PLN 50 m. PLN 4.5 m came from the Jessica EU funding programme. Even though finishing works and construction of access roads will continue until the end of the year, in October the factory in Stołczyńska will start manufacturing cardboard for the packaging industry. The new production line is now undergoing test runs.

 

“We shall be manufacturing almost 300 tonnes of cardboard a day or 7 – 8 thousand tonnes a month. Our annual sales target is about PLN 120-140 million. Half of the production output will be for our own plant’s consumption and the other half will be sold”, says Apis chairman Piotr Bloch. “There’s been a lot of demand for cardboard in Europe lately, even a bit of a shortage of it”, he adds.

 

Apis is the workplace of almost 100 people, mainly former employees of Skolwin paper mill, and the company promises more new jobs in the future. It also plans on offering apprenticeships to students of the West Pomeranian University of Technology.

 

The revitalisation project undertaken by the company Modehpolmo was not an easy task, either. Modehpolmo has converted over 3,000 sq. m of space at al. Wojska Polskiego, the address of the former Polmo automotive company, the manufacturer of the legendary “Junak” motorbike, into offices and service space fully adapted for wheelchair users. The value of the development was over PLN 20 million, including PLN 11.9 million from the Jessica Initiative.

 

The building currently known as Fabryka (the Factory) is home to companies Squiz Poland, Farutex, Nitron Group B.V., Atelier Kulinarne Leszka Wodnickiego, Idea HR Doradztwo Personalne, as well as design studios, law firms and the office of the owner of the building.

 

The Jessica Initiative has provided funds to 17 projects. Six of them have been completed, including Stara Rzeźnia (Old Slaughterhouse) (investor - CSL Internationale Spedition) and revitalisation of the former shipyard buildings (Alkon office building). “We can see that the instrument really works. In fact, it provided us with a good incentive to act. We contributed PLN 150 m, while private investors from the region put half a billion in the investment programme”, says Olgierd Geblewicz, Marshal of the West Pomeranian Voidodeship. Bank Zachodni WBK S.A. manages the funds in the Szczecin Metropolitan Area and BOŚ S.A. does so in the rest of the region.

 

At present, two other revitalisation projects supported by the Jessica fund – Kosmos Art&Business Center and Dana Hotel – are nearing completion.

 

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