100th Anniversary of the Production Center in Vrbas

The oldest domestic sugar factory „Bačka“, operating within the company Sunoko, the largest domestic manufacturer and exporter of sugar and a member of the MK Group system, celebrated its 100th jubilee at the factory today. With a 51 percent market share, Sunoko is the largest Serbian sugar producer investing more than 100 million Euros since 2003 in the modernization of factories operating within its system.

– Vojvodina, second only to Germany and France, is the most fertile land area in Europe for the cultivation of sugar beet. That’s why it is one of Sunoko’s strategic goals to raise Serbia’s sugar production to the European level. We plan to invest around 9.4 million Euros in our factories this year alone. The investments are oriented towards increasing processing capacity, decreasing production costs, raising energy efficiency and environmental protection. We are proud that, since 2010, MK Group has once again become the majority owner of Sunoko and we believe that this sugar factory in Vrbas will be celebrating its 200th jubilee – Miodrag Kostić, the President of MK Group, stated.

Thanks to good strategic planning and market knowledge, Sunoko has capitalized on good opportunities which have significantly impacted the growth of production and exports.

– This year 2.3 million Euros has been invested into the sugar factory Bačka in Vrbas of which half a million on building a device for the treatment of boiler flue gas emissions which will significantly reduce negative effects on the environment. In addition, Sunoko is investing a total amount of 9 million Euros into its plant in Pećinci where construction has begun on a steam drying plant for beet pulp. This will allow for a total increase in energy efficiency and the complete elimination of harmful emission from that source. Production plans envision that in this year’s campaign 700,000 tons of sugar beet will be processed in the Vrbas sugar factory which will represent an optimal use of resources. Sunoko plans to process sugar beet from 33,000 ha; the amount of sugar beet planted, and reach the production of 230,000 tons of sugar – Ljubiša Radenković, the General Director of Sunoko, stressed.

Responsible business operations in 2011 have allowed the company Sunoko to achieve an increase in the production of sugar based on the automation of the entire process, lowered costs and stabilized product quality.