On Wednesday, South Ossetian President Alan Gagloev inspected the work of the Alan Kamen stone processing plant.
Elbrus Kochiev, CEO of the natural stone mining and processing company LLC Impuls-A, showed the head of state the process of manufacturing products from local stone and spoke about the work of the enterprise.
As noted by Kochiev, orders for the plant's products are already coming from many cities in Russia.
"We have already made stone products for Vladikavkaz, Beslan and other cities. In addition, our stone is in great demand in the Caucasus largely due to its greenish tint," Kochiev said.
According to him, specialists from Russia are expected to arrive soon, who will train the enterprise's employees and install the equipment that has not yet been put into operation.
"Currently, our employees are engaged in manual polishing of stone, but when they master new technologies, we will switch to automated polishing, which will significantly speed up the manufacturing process," Kochiev has noted.
To date, the company employs 52 people, all of them local residents, with the exception of several invited specialists.
"Our working day is eight hours, but when all the machines are working, we plan to switch to round-the-clock work and increase the staff to 110 people. Now we have about 70 applications for employment. We pay wages on time, their amount is 51 thousand rubles," the company's general director added.
The head of the workshop, the invited specialist Alan Abaev has emphasized that in the future, stone processing will become the basis of the entire industry of South Ossetia, since there are practically no analogues of the unique raw materials.
"There is no such stone anywhere, and our marble is not inferior to the Italian one. With such material, we will only increase production. We receive many requests for our products from Moscow, Vladikavkaz, Nalchik and other cities, as well as from local residents. In addition, there are many requests for the production of monuments and steles, including for those killed in the special military operation, and we try to provide products at the lowest prices. There are many requests, and, having reached full capacity, we will, first of all, meet the needs of our residents," Alan Abaev said.
The head of state positively assessed the work of the enterprise. The President emphasized that the enterprise fully met the expectations, despite the fact that many did not believe in the success of this project.
"After my election, in one of the interviews I noted that we would develop the extractive industry, but people were skeptical about this idea. However, as we see today, the enterprise has started working and has fully justified itself," the President has stressed.
Gagloev has noted that the production will be expanding, and over time, the enterprise will begin to produce a variety of products in the even larger volume than now.
"There are many orders for the plant's products. Our stone is of high quality and significantly surpasses the characteristics of material from other cities and countries. And what is no less important, the enterprise has provided jobs for our residents," the President has emphasized.
