The Eczacıbası Building Products Division is continuing to invest in manufacturing capacity outside of Turkey, in line with its growth strategy. On 13 May 2014 the Division officially inaugurated its new Russian sanitary ware production plant, the first investment in this field outside of Turkey. The new plant, realised at a cost of € 21 million, is located at the same production complex in Serpukhov, some 100 km from Moscow, where the Group is already manufacturing ceramic tiles.  

The number of Eczacıbası Building Products Division plants (manufacturing ceramic tiles, sanitary ware, fittings, bathroom furniture and bathtubs) is now 16: six of these are based in Turkey, six in Germany, two in France, and now two also in Russia. The ceramic tile production capacity of the group totals 33 million sqm and 5 million pieces of sanitary ware each year.

Eczacıbası Group Chairman Bülent Eczacıbası and Vice Chairman Faruk Eczacıbası hosted the inauguration ceremony, which was attended by the Moscow Region Minister of Investment and Innovation Denis Petrovich Butsaev, Serpukhov Governor Alexandr Vyacheslavovıch Shestun, and Turkey’s Ambassador in Moscow, Aydın Adnan Sezgin. Eczacıbası President and CEO Dr. Erdal Karamercan, Eczacıbası Building Products Executive Vice Presidents Ahmet Yamaner (Technology and Investments) and Zeki Safak Ozan (Tiles) also attended the event.

In his speech at the ceremony, Eczacıbası Group Chairman Bülent Eczacıbası said, “Russia has now become an important production centre for us, following Turkey, Germany and France. Ten of the Building Products Division’s 16 plants are located abroad and are producing for international markets. We are proud to represent Turkey in different locations around the world with our production facilities as well as our sales,” he added. To date, the Eczacıbası Building Products Division has invested €60 million in its production complex in Serpukhov, which encompasses 46 thousand square meters. Opened in 2011, the tile plant can produce up to 3.2 million sqm of tiles per year; the new ceramic sanitary ware plant has an annual capacity of 250,000 large pieces. Eczacıbası Building Products Division is exporting its VitrA branded products to more than 75 countries. On the Russian market, the VitrA brand is available at 1,000 sales points throughout the country. (RESOURCE Ceramic World Review N.107 June-July 2014).