Belenergo, Slovenian Kolektor ETRA to make power transformers in Belarus

The Belarusian national electrical company Belenergo and Slovenia’s largest power engineering company Kolektor ETRA are in negotiations on assimilating modern technologies to make power transformers using the power engineering and mechanical engineering factory in Beloozersk, Bereza District, Brest Oblast, BelTA has learned.

The preliminary agreement on implementing the project was reached during the fourth session of the Belarusian-Slovenian intergovernmental commission on trade, economic, scientific, and technical cooperation in Ljubljana. As part of the work of the commission a Belarusian delegation led by Belenergo Director General Yevgeny Voronov visited Kolektor ETRA’s power transformer factory in Ljubljana. The Belarusian specialists were made familiar with the state-of-the-art European technologies the company uses to make power transformers with the output capacity of up to 500MVA (megavolt ampere). After that consultations on using Slovenian technologies to modernize the Beloozersk-based factory took place.

During the meeting Kolektor ETRA Director for Commerce Peter Novak decided to visit the Beloozersk-based factory for the sake of working out practical recommendations and an action program to start manufacturing modern power transformers in Belarus. Peter Novak said that a similar project to start manufacturing Slovenian transformers is being implemented in Thailand and will be commissioned in 2015.

During negotiations Belenergo and Kolektor ETRA signed a protocol of intent to cooperate. The protocol stipulates their mutual interest in setting up a modern enterprise in Belarus to make transformers and in arranging a visit of Kolektor ETRA specialists to Belarus. According to Peter Novak, the arrangements made in Ljubljana start a new stage of cooperation with Belarus.

The Slovenian company Rico, which has been working in Belarus for a long time and has experience of building power installations in Europe, including in Belarus, also showed interest in raising investments for the development of the power engineering and mechanical engineering factory in Beloozersk.

Kolektor ETRA established contacts with Belarusian electrical companies several years ago and has earned the reputation as a supplier of high-quality modern power transformers. In 2011 Kolektor ETRA signed the contract on cooperation in building transformer stations in Minsk on a turn-key basis, with the Slovenian company Rico participating as the general contractor.

The Slovenian power engineering company Kolektor ETRA is located near the Slovenian capital Ljubljana. The company boasts an 80-year-long record of manufacturing and repairing power transformers. Power transformers account for the bulk of the company’s output. Apart from that, the company makes distribution transformers and offers transformer repair and installation services. The company pays close attention to loss reduction and noise level reduction. The company is well-known in Europe for its innovations, reliability, and the high level of aftersales services. The company is reputed for being able to make technically sophisticated products on a tight schedule. Apart from that, the company constantly puts efforts into developing new high-tech products, with universities and research institutes involved in the R&D effort. The company exports virtually 90% of the transformers it makes.