FROM  SAMOGITIA TO AUSTRALIA

 

PROFITABLE CONTRACT TABLES AND CHAIRS 

FROM TELSIAI

 

By Stasys Kasauskas

 

In the Telsiai district in Samogitia there are 29 major industrial enterprises. Twelve of them produce foodstuffs, four are engaged in knitting and weaving, two deal in footwear and leather tanning, two produce farm machinery and three make furniture.

Baltic Oz, a joint Lithuanian-Australian venture, produces furniture. It is one of the district’s most successful companies, exporting 90 per cent of its output.

Profitable contract

In the summer of 1991 Ron Carswell, the owner of an Australian furniture-making company, visited Lithuania looking for partners. The chairs, tables and wardrobes made at his Melbourne-based company enjoy great popularity on the domestic market and in Asian countries. Having decided to expand production volume, the owner came to Lithuania to look for cheap raw materials and labour, as well as reliable partners.

At that time investment in Lithuania was not very popular as there were few private businesses, state-run enterprises had not yet been privatised and the Seimas was engaged in making new laws.

In Telsiai, the capital of Samogitia, Carswell discovered Eliuda, one of the larger private companies engaged in wood processing. The owners, engineers Elijus Noreika and Liudas Zubavicius, who had worked for a state-run enterprise, were making window frames, doors and other wood products. Carswell suggested starting a new furniture business.

“The offer was attractive but we had neither the necessary equipment nor the funds for acquiring it,” Zubavicius said.

Carswell was not put off and started negotiations with them. He promised to supply the furniture-making machinery. A deal was concluded and a new Lithuanian-Australian venture was born.

Tables and chairs from Telsiai

Three months later Carswell sent wood-turning lathes he had bought in Hong Kong and Germany. They were promptly assembled, workers hired and production started.

Containers with parts for tables and chairs were shipped from the port of Klaipeda to Melbourne. At Carswell’s factory they were assembled, varnished and sent to the shops.

The business prospered and soon Baltic Oz needed to expand its premises. At present the company employs about 120 workers and makes 4,000 chairs and 400 tables per month. Though they are also sold to Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Cyprus, Australia is the main market. Ten per cent of output is sold in Lithuania and enjoys great popularity.

 

(From LITHUANIA IN THE WORLD, No 2, 1998)

© Center of Regional Cultural Initiatives Page updated 2006.03.18. Comments to: samogit@delfi.lt