In November, Armenia's President Serzh Sargsyan visited the modernized Saranist glass container factory in the province of Kotayk. The company has invested a total of US$ 44M in upgrading production lines, including a US$ 3M loan provided by the EU Bank for Reconstruction & Development. Vardan Manukian, DG said it has been operating without a break for 20 years, selling its products to Armenian companies as well as to Georgia & the EU. Arsen Ghazarian, chairman of the Union of Armenian Industrialists, said Saranist is the largest company in the region manufacturing products meeting all EU standards. The plant, which was built in 1989, sells glass containers & bottles for juice, non-alcoholic & strong alcoholic drinks to local & foreign companies, with 40% of production sold outside Armenia. In 2009, the company earned AMD 4BN from sales of its products, & now, thanks to the new workshop, the plant hopes to increase sales by AMD 800M.
