Kazakhstan’s oldest tannery brought back to life
The Siriopet tannery in Petropavlovsk, Kazakhstan’s oldest tannery, produced leather worth $3 million in 2001 according to its executive director, Dushant Kumar. The return to production marks a remarkable turnaround for the 150-year old tannery, which had fallen into disuse and lain idle for five years.
British company Sirio Leather Group, part of the East Hides Group, bought the tannery in July 2000, and after extensive renovations reopened it in December 2000. The tannery now produces wet blue and pickled cattle hides, goat and sheepskins and has a capacity of 170 tonnes of raw leather per month. The tannery’s return to production was celebrated in August 2001 by a visit from President Nazarbaev.
The East Hides Group has two other tannery interests in the CIS: Lviv in Ukraine, which like the Siriopet tannery is 100% owned, and Gatova in Belarus, bought from Cogolo of Italy, which is a partnership with the local government.
