Opening ceremony of the plant on production of gypsum boards has been held at Knauf Gips Bukhara Foreign Enterprise LLC, which is located in Kagan city of Bukhara region.

Speaking at the opening period, governor of Kagan city Ikhtiyor Farmonov said that the plant is the second enterprise of Knauf in Uzbekistan. He said that Knuaf invested US$6.3 million to the plant on production of dry construction mixtures from gypsum. He added that the German company invested another US$51.5 million to the plant on production of gypsum boards.

Ikhtiyor Farmonov expressed hope that the enterprise will contribute to development of economy of Bukhara region and Uzbekistan, as a whole.

Head of information-analytical department of the Cabinet of Ministers of Uzbekistan Nodir Hanov said that Knauf Gips Bukhara will produce 20 million square meters of high-quality Knauf-boards a year.

Hanov added that the enterprise will satisfy internal market of Uzbekistan for gypsum boards and export part of goods.

Gerd Lenga, head of the company's CIS business division, said that Knauf-boards will be traded in such countries as Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. He said that the plant’s products will correspondent to Western European standards.

Managing partner Manfred Grundke said that the company hopes that the new plant will work in full capacity. He noted that currently there are discussions on expansion of the capacity of the enterprise.

According to Knauf, construction of Knauf-boards at Knauf Gips Bukhara has been started in November 2009. In the beginning of 2010, the enterprise started to assemble equipment. Knauf required only 1.5 years to launch production of high quality gypsum boards.

Along with the construction of the plant, the enterprise created infrastructure such as railroads, loading and unloading establishments, etc.

Knauf Gips Bukhara will receive raw materials from Knauf gypsum deposit, which located 5 km away from the plant. The deposit is also used for production of dry construction mixtures. The gypsum of the deposit has high quality.

Knauf won a tender on purchase of the state stake at Bukharagips OJSC and acquired additional shares at stock exchange to take controlling interest in the enterprise.

In October 2009, the enterprise launched production dry construction mixtures from gypsum such as Knauf-Rotband, Knauf-Fugen, Knauf-Satengips and Knauf-Perflix. The enterprise was launched on 6 October 2009.