From pharmaceutical giants to the most dashing names in the timber industry: news about the companies setting up in the Kaunas FEZ keep coming one after another, and the growth momentum gained during the jump in investments attracted in 2017 does not seem to slow down. The threshold of one billion euros in investments, which was crossed in 2021, has now been left behind as new ambitious goals are being drawn. Their achievement is facilitated by the development of FEZ infrastructure and the construction and improvement of connections with the surrounding territories. In 2022 alone, an area of 29 ha was subleased in the territory, and foreign and Lithuanian investments amounted to 168 million euros.
The projects currently underway or the ones that have just been completed take up 26 ha of Kaunas FEZ territory. More work planned on another 14 hectares will begin in the coming years. Among the largest new projects currently underway is the development of 63,000-square-meter warehouses – in an area of 12 ha – by the industrial real estate development company Sirin Development as well as the parcel sorting terminal of the Estonian company Omniva, which will settle in an area of 9 ha.
Medical equipment and pharmaceutical companies have also been discovering the spaces of Kaunas FEZ. For example, the Singaporean medical equipment factory Esco Medical Technologies, which is settling in the territory of 3.6 ha, and the already operating modern logistics warehouse of Tamro Pharmaceuticals located in a territory of 2.5 ha.
The humanizing of streets that started after the completion of the infrastructure development works
The territory of the Kaunas FEZ consists of two parts. If we look at the first one, from which the entire activity of FEZ began, we will see that its main infrastructure and road network are already completed, and the further development of this territory is carried out according to the individual needs of specific customers. Yet in the second – Airpark – part of the territory, infrastructure development works continue, and a new Pilotų street is being built. Infrastructure development works will be completed this summer on Gamybos and Aviacijos streets. All this will make it possible to offer even more fully prepared land – for so-called greenfield investments – for a 99-year lease.
“If you compare the needs of investors in 2005 when the first investor settled, and today, they remain very similar: the development of the plot is very important; the prepared infrastructure near the edge of the plot was and is an aspect that determines quick settlement. Both before and now, the ability to quickly settle in, is critical for a business interested in saving time,” Vytautas Petružis, CEO of the company managing Kaunas FEZ, notes.
He also notes that although the development of the infrastructure in the territory of FEZ 1 has already been completed, this does not mean that it is not being improved, “In the long run, the attitude of existing and future investors towards the physical business environment has changed, so we started the so-called “humanization of the streets” project: we plant greenery and clean the sidewalks. Therefore, it can be said that the Kaunas LEZ adapts to the existing and future customers’ expectations, which naturally change over the years.”
The new connection will conveniently link the territories of FEZ 1 and FEZ 2
Equally important are the works carried out outside of Kaunas FEZ by the Lithuanian Road Administration and Kaunas District Municipality, thanks to which the industrial structure of the Kaunas FEZ is integrated into the entire region. At the same time, it helps to increase the attractiveness of the territory for existing and future investors. At the moment, the project connecting FEZ 1 and FEZ 2, which has already begun, is particularly important for the development of the territory, during which a roundabout will be built at the intersection of S. Žukausko and Gamybos streets, which will help improve communication between these two parts of the territory.
Although the Kaunas FEZ product is flexible, customers can freely choose the location that best suits their needs. However, it is precisely the FEZ 2 territory that still allows clients to form areas of 10 or more hectares, which is why it was mostly chosen by large production and logistics companies like Continental or Hella, which planned for rapid and extensive expansion.
On the other hand, companies that require a smaller area are also finding their niche in the territory of FEZ 2. Among the recent settlers, we find names like Brolis Timber or FL Technics.
Undoubtedly, after the implementation of the A1-A6 connection, the popularity of the FEZ 2 territory will grow even more among those companies which prioritize visibility and communication.
Kaunas FEZ results for 2022
In 2022, 29 hectares of the area were subleased, and the total investment in the territory amounted to 168 million euros, of which 105 million were foreign investments. 1,167 jobs were created, 655 of them by foreign companies. In addition, businesses operating in the territory of the Kaunas FEZ plan to hire more than 3,000 new employees. During the last year, 69 million euros were paid in taxes related to labor relations.
Kaunas FEZ has already attracted 54 foreign and Lithuanian investors operating in the service and production sectors. The companies use advanced technological solutions and create innovative products. More than 9,100 jobs have been created in the territory of the Kaunas FEZ since the first investor in 2005 to today and more than 1.35 billion euros of direct investments were attracted.
