Prime Minister Golob: "Investment in the new wood-energy centre is an investment in knowledge"

SLOVENIA, January 20 - At the outset, the Prime Minister expressed great satisfaction with the investment in the centre and once again underlined that this Government has, from day one, placed a strong emphasis on investment in knowledge. "Knowledge is what will continue to keep us on our own land in the future, in well-paid jobs, and enable us to make use of the natural resources that Slovenia offers. And this investment is precisely that—an investment in knowledge," the Prime Minister said.

He emphasised that Slovenian expertise in particular will make it possible to establish production for the processing of beech wood.

"Today, we are here to bring together knowledge and forests—wood. And I am pleased with what I have heard, as the state is demonstrating that it knows how to act as a responsible owner," the Prime Minister said. "In this case, it was the state that took over a company in distress, restructured it, recapitalised it, provided fresh funds and also secured loans, so that today we can revive the utilisation of the greatest natural asset of this region," the Prime Minister added.

In his address, he also said that this sawmill represents the foundation—the infrastructure—for all those who will produce furniture, energy products or anything else from wood in order to be successful. "Without basic infrastructure, such as a sawmill, this simply is not possible," the Prime Minister said. "We are building one of the largest sawmills in Europe, and we can be very proud of that," Prime Minister Golob concluded.

The value of the investment amounts to approximately EUR 50 million. Rok Rutar, Director of Fagus Slovenica d. o. o., said: "We will build a new production facility and an energy plant, where we will generate heat for approximately 8,000 households and electricity for around 4,000 households. A certain share of the electricity produced will also be fed back into the grid," he underlined.

 Marko Matjašič, Chief Executive of Slovenski državni gozdovi d. o. o. (SiDG), highlighted the importance of sustainable wood processing. "Our aim is to manage forests in a sustainable, multifunctional and nature-friendly way, rather than to designate them as reserves. Sustainable processing of this resource into high-quality products within the local area also represents the greatest opportunity for an economic breakthrough at the local level," he said.

In his address, Gregor Košir, Mayor of the Municipality of Kočevje, highlighted two important effects of the investment. "The investment is important not only because of the jobs that will remain here, develop further and generate added value, but above all because of its multiplier effect on our town and on the Kočevje region. Why is this important? Because support services will be based here, and everything that will be developed around this facility will also take place here. What matters most is that new investors will have access to partially processed and treated wood, which they will be able to purchase directly here," he said.

The new wood-processing industrial complex will carry out the sawing of beech logs using state-of-the-art technology, followed by further processing of sawn timber. At the same time, the investment also includes a heat plant with combined heat and power generation. The output will be high-quality processed—and, where required, steamed—beech sawn timber, produced to target dimensions and moisture levels in line with customer requirements, primarily for use in the furniture industry. The investment is of particular importance for Slovenski državni gozdovi d. o. o. (SiDG), which is wholly owned by the Republic of Slovenia, and for its subsidiary Fagus Slovenica d. o. o., which is focused on the processing and treatment of wood for use in construction and the wood-processing industries.