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Finding a town in Emiliškės for a non-local person can be quite difficult.
As well as the reason why you should look for it. And it turns out that right here in the Soviet era, on the premises of the auxiliary farm of the local collective farm, boats and ships are now being made.
Floating items
According to Česlavas Sokolovičius, founder and CEO of Armplast, the company moved here about 15 years ago and now produces everything from fiberglass.
“There are also floating products: boats, boats, as well as technical products. I have calculated that if there is at least one of our products in a country, then there are 26 of our products in the world. Our very different business lines, diversified production, although composite. We produce sport boats class C1X, C2X. This is not an Olympic class, but a world championship. The unique boat has even won several awards in the world.
We produce similar classes, only we look different for clubs and rowboats, ”said Č.Sokolovičius about a product segment.
The next segment is the Emili boats.
“Emili” because we are in Emiliškės. The Emili 360 is the smallest and the Emili 600 the largest, the entire Emili range. We sell a lot. Here now we are preparing a batch of boats for France ”, is the story of the name of these boats.
Another segment is technical products, where the main and most important partner is the United Kingdom, where special machines are produced, requiring components manufactured in the Šalčininkai district.
20 to 30 series come out every week.
Wages – modest
The facilities are currently being renovated. As his manager, first of all, the facilities for employees were cleaned – changing rooms, an office was set up, but he had not yet moved into it.
Photo by Julius Kalinskas / 15min / Shipbuilding company
“30 people work here, the administration, four people. There is a lot of work, there is a lack of people. If Lithuania does not allow people from other countries, we will have big problems,” says Č.Sokolovičius.
Now most of the locals work here.
The director himself and several other people drive from Šalčininkai, so they take their colleagues along the way. Others live in the surrounding villages.
Some of the Emiliškės themselves work, as the director says, others have tried, but “either we didn’t like them or they didn’t fit us.”
There is a lot of work, there is a lack of people. If Lithuania does not allow people from other countries, we will have big problems.
It is true that salaries here are not so tempting: according to rekvizitai.vz.lt, the average salary here in April was only 700 euros.
The First Order – Olympic Games
For Česlavas himself, this company was like a continuation of previous works: in 1972, a company was built in Šalčininkai, which produced ships, and at the same time planes were taken in Prienai.
He ran the company for ten years, says he tried to save it from bankruptcy after the collapse of the Soviet Union, tried to take on a wider range of activities, but when he saw that it would fail, he left with his colleagues.
“Two years later, the company went bankrupt, but the tradition remained,” he smiles.
Recalling the start of the business, Č.Sokolovičius mentions a former Norwegian partner – a designer with whom he built a ship, his company produced about six hundred.
Then the Norwegian sold his business, the production of those boats stopped, but, as Česlav says, that experience taught him a lot.
Photo by Julius Kalinskas / 15min / Shipbuilding company
“We started to build the boats ourselves. We went to exhibitions, we looked for intermediaries, so step by step Emili 460 appeared, which was tested by a German magazine and the response was very good. Then there was the Emili 530, Emili 590, Emili 600 with a cabin, we don’t like this, it is better to make open-type boats “, said the founder of the company.
Another story from the early days of the company is even more impressive.
The catamarans for the competitions in Trakai were made in the old factory, then the organizers only brought a picture of the calendar.
The first product was a catamaran for the Olympics.
“We did everything, and then there were the Olympics in Greece, and we also wanted those boats there. But the Šalčininkai company has already collapsed. Then I said: well, I’m going to start a company and hand over the forms. It’s a catamaran for the Olympics ”, Česlav smiles.
Fly abroad
When we visited the factory, a full ship was ready in their shipyard, ready for a trip to France.
Two boats have been completed in the assembly workshop, one will travel to the United States, it is a double, although it can be transformed into one.
According to Česlav, he does not participate in such a world championship, it is for the club.
Photo by Julius Kalinskas / 15min / Shipbuilding company
Moving on to the next model, it talks about its manufacturing process:
“That container is made by hand, that is, not by infusion. We have had a Pilot 4 form for this model for more than 10 years. First the mold is painted, it is covered with paint, and then layer by layer it is formed manually. in plastic, increased. Metal, plywood, everything you need is formed in that plastic. Then it is removed from the mold with a certain color. The most common color of this model is dark blue.
So we have a hull and there is a deck inside, they are connected to each other and we have a boat ”.
Hull and deck training takes one day, assembly – up to two days.
Photo by Julius Kalinskas / 15min / Shipbuilding company
“Two people do it in three or four days. We produce 50-60 of these per year. When calculating all products, we order as much as we order. Only now are we ordering more than we can produce ”, he smiles, acknowledging that the company is even more focused on technical products: there the orders are specific, it is known in advance how many should be sent each week and then the payments. will come, etc.
Where does this demand come from?
Č.Sokolovičius considers that perhaps the pandemic did its thing: people travel less, so they look for opportunities to spend more holidays in Lithuania and at the same time spend money here.
And Brexit did its part, now technical products are already transported not only to Great Britain, but also to Poland, where the British moved part of the production.
We do not focus on Lithuania, we do not advertise. If people want, they find us themselves, come, inspect on the spot.
In Lithuania, your shipping company sells little.
Some ships have only a few units out of a few hundred.
The boats are also sold in Lithuania only a few times a year, now they are ready for one, as Ch.
“We do not focus on Lithuania, it is not advertised anywhere. If people want, they find us themselves, come and inspect them on the spot,” said the manager.
When asked about prices, Czeslaw says he won’t be able to say how much his ships cost in other countries.
But now ready for sale without an engine, it’s valued at around 8.5-9 thousand. euros with VAT.
And when you sell an engine, it all depends on the engine; this can cost as much as a boat.
Such a boat can be done in a week.
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