This is who Sergey Shapran is, the Ukrainian who wants to relaunch Termini Imerese

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His name is Sergey Shapran, he is 38 years old and is the CEO of Alumeta Group. It was he who decided to take the Sicilian route for the relaunch in Western Europe of the activities of the holding whose main component is Brovary Aluminum Plant (Braz), European leader in the non-ferrous metals sector, which holds a majority share of the domestic market Ukrainian and customers from 30 European countries to which it now exports 90% of its production. Shapran’s choice fell on Termini Imerese and on the plant that used to belong to Fiat and which then passed to Blutec, now in the hands of three commissioners.

The company born from the ashes of the USSR

Alumeta is a young company, so to speak, just as young as he is, Sergey an entrepreneur with a passion for politics and newspapers: his is the Chestnaya Gazeta newspaper, which he founded in 2012. It was in 2011 that Sergei Shapran, 26 years old, coming from an experience as head of the legal department of the Ukrainian company Metalplast and before that founder and CEO of the investment company “First International Trust Capital”, he decides to create his own company and to buy the Brovary industrial complex and relaunch it . The plant was built in 1979 and after the collapse of the USSR it gradually went bankrupt, reaching its worst point in 2010.

“No one believed that we would really succeed. However, we were able and today we are working at full capacity and our employees are confident about tomorrow» entrepreneur Shapran told Forbes. It was Shapran who created a new corporate brand (Braz) which soon became part of Alumeta Group: the company went from 30 employees in 2011 to 800 employees in 2021. Today the Ukrainian company produces on average over 22,000 tons of finished aluminum parts and the assortment of the plant is over 20,000 products.

Termini Imerese is the basis for development in Europe

«I am against the fact that we are considered a raw material base for other countries and only export scrap metal. Ukraine should export a finished product with high added value to bring money into the country,” Shapran said. Then the war arrived with new dynamics and it impressed a change of strategy: «The Termini Imerese site is the basis for the growth strategy in Europe – they say from Alumeta -. We had been looking for a site in Europe since before the war broke out. The market is constantly expanding and we need to increase production capacity. Furthermore, our factory in Ukraine will certainly be heavily involved in production for the reconstruction after the war».

Investments with own capital

A first point on the Sicilian investment was made in Palermo on Monday 13 February: and on that occasion it emerged that the tender for the assignment of the former Fiat plant in Termini Imerese could arrive within a month. Also on that occasion, Polo Meccatronica illustrated the main data of the business plan of the Ukrainian group Alumeta interested in the former Fiat plant in Termini Imerese. main data of the project: 41 million euros for the initial investment, of which 27 million of own capital and 14 of bank financing. The construction of a factory for the production of aluminum profiles and components is planned, with a capacity of 1,100 tons per month. The start-up in 24 months and, in the first phase, the hiring of 250 workers. «In order to have certain times for the project, in the meantime we have envisaged investments with own capital and bank financing, access to incentives is not foreseen at the moment – ​​the company explains -. It will certainly be interesting to evaluate the incentives for expanding the project for the treatment/recovery of other metals such as copper for example”.