The company’s production facilities will be modernized and new machinery will be invested in
LB Bulgaricum is now operating at maximum capacity and with 100 percent Bulgarian milk. This was announced by the Minister of Economy and Industry Bogdan Bogdanov, who visited the production base of the state-owned dairy enterprise in Vidin and got acquainted in detail with the production process of the company. ‘LB Bulgaricum will not be privatized,’ Bogdan Bogdanov assured the workers and managers of the base.
He announced that the state’s priority would be to renovate the entire factory and that it would work to attract young people to the company.
At the meeting with the management of the production base it became clear that currently in Vidin 25 000 buckets of yoghurt and more than 6 tons of fresh milk are produced daily. The production of BDS products, which was discontinued under the previous management, has also been resumed. Milk supplies for the products of the LB Bulgaricum have already doubled, the minister said. According to the decision of the new management of the company, transparent competitions for the selection of suppliers of fully Bulgarian raw material are held every month. The minister pointed out that this month 900 tons of raw milk was purchased from Bulgarian producers alone, which is almost a two-fold increase compared to last summer, when the raw material purchased was only 430 tons.
The quality of the products must be restored, Bogdanov was adamant. He said that the distribution network in the region is planned to increase in order to shorten the supply chain and make LB Bulgaricum products reach more customers. Minister Bogdanov: LB Bulgaricum is now working at maximum capacity and with 100% Bulgarian milk. In recent months there has been a lack of them in the store network.
Bogdanov recalled that under the previous management of the company inefficient decisions were made to sell products below their cost price, which led to large losses for the company. Because of unfavourable contracts with retail chains the company was losing BGN 50 000 per month. In recent months, the production has not been working at full capacity, but only at 60 percent of it, the minister further recalled.
Bogdanov inspected the production workshops at the plant and found that the base was in need of urgent repair. ‘The state will renovate it and invest in new products and production machinery. Modernisation of production is a priority for us,’ the minister said. He said that plans are underway to attract young people and cadres to the LB Bulgaricum by reinstating dual programmes. The LB Bulgaricum Science Centre will continue to receive support from the state and will enter a new stage of development thanks to its cooperation with the Japanese company Meiji, the minister added.