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Friday, 26.04.2024, 17:17
A Year in the Klaipeda FEZ: 1.2 bn EUR in revenue, record-breaking sales, and paid taxes
The companies
established at the Klaipeda FEZ are not only growing manufacturers but also big
buyers of supplies from other Lithuanian companies. Throughout the last year,
the Klaipeda FEZ investor community carried out acquisitions in Lithuania worth
321.1 mln EUR, a 27.9% increase over 2017.
The taxes paid
by FEZ companies have also almost reached the symbolic 100 mln EUR mark, with
the recorded 91.8 mln EUR, three times more than the number recorded in 2017.
The majority of this change was determined the VAT paid out by the FEZ
companies, from 7 mln EUR to 64.3 mln. Additionally, Sodra and the personal
income tax numbers also grow, from 18.1 mln EUR in 2017 to 25.2 mln last year.
Eimantas Kiudulas, the CEO of the Klaipeda FEZ, comments that the numbers of the Klaipeda
FEZ grew five times faster than the overall Lithuanian economy numbers, which
shows the competitive strength of the FEZ companies in the modern global
markets, as well as the undeniable advantage of the proximity to the Klaipeda
seaport for successful investments.
“2018 makes us
happy in two ways: our huge long-standing investors burst forward but we have
offered some already successful solutions for small-medium manufacturers also
with our quick launch projects. We are also to determine to provide better
conditions for not only manufacturing but development as well. We are looking
to work towards improving manufacturer laboratories and R & D centers
because they are the key towards higher added value businesses and jobs not
only in the future but in the present as well. This is why we are encouraging
and actively looking for a dialogue with institutions of higher learning, municipalities,
and representatives of the state. Suitable conditions for innovation are
required not only when attracting new investors but holding on to the already
existing ones as well,” says E. Kiudulas.
Due to
technical reasons, the exports numbers recorded by Klaipeda FEZ companies in
2018 dropped to 610.2 mln EUR, 108 mln EUR less than in 2017. This change was
determined by a big company’s decision to formally carry out most of its export
operations through a secondary company. After compensating for this, the total
exports numbers from Klaipeda FEZ companies would have been approx. 850 mln
EUR. The two biggest exporters in the FEZ, recording numbers past 100 mln, were
Orion Global PET and Mestilla.
Through the
last year, the number of investors active in the Klaipeda FEZ grew from 29 to
34, the total number of employees working in the investor companies changed
from 3,216 to 3,427. When the other companies operating in the Klaipeda FEZ
territory are added in, we find that around 100 businesses are working in the
FEZ, employing over 5,500 thousand people.
Mantas Katinas, the General Manager of Invest Lithuania, comments that the successful
and quickly growing Klaipeda FEZ results only confirm the conclusions from the
recently presented Lithuania FEZ report.
The FEZ report
presented in April has shown that the Lithuanian Free Economic Zones are useful
not only in the economic sense but also when you look at their influence on
public finance. It’s calculated that the positive impact to public finance had
by the FEZ system in the period of 2002 - 2043 will be 6.6 times greater than
the money invested from the public sector and the waived portions of taxes due
to tax relief measures,” says M. Katinas.
As our analysis
shows, it is important to develop the already existing FEZ infrastructure, grow
its boundaries, so that companies can be offered bigger lots for their
operation, if we want the FEZ numbers to grow not only through the efforts of
the current investors but the acquisition of new ones as well.
Revenue-wise,
the biggest companies at the Klaipeda FEZ last year were Neo Group, Orion
Global PET, Mestilla, Yazaki, Espersen, Retal, Fortum Klaipeda, Glassbel,
Albright, and Heidelbergcement. Each company presents its results in
public separately.
Throughout the
last year, the companies to announce or start investment projects at the
Klaipeda FEZ were Capella Baltica, Focus Fabrication Group, Baltijos
Eucutekas, Etman, Vejo projektai. The pre-existing investors to start or
even finish significant expansion projects were Neo Group, Retal, Lavango,
Indorama, and Ad Rem.