Yara International, one of the world's largest producers of mineral fertilizers, has finished settling in Lithuania. Yesterday in Vilnius, the new environmentally friendly office of the Norwegian company was officially opened in the Park Town building "East Hill" on Lvovo street. It has about 250 jobs for professionals both from Lithuania and abroad.
The opening of the new Yara International office in Vilnius marks an important stage in the modernization of the company's operating model in Europe. It already has a fully operational European Business Services Center, responsible for providing the highest quality products and other solutions needed by customers across the continent. The center is also tasked with increasing the efficiency of processes, including customer service, export and transport coordination.
"When planning the establishment of the European Business Services Center, we evaluated many different options in the Baltic States and Eastern Europe. We decided to settle in Vilnius both because of the convenient location and because of the talents who live here and speak different foreign languages. Now we have concentrated here the activities that we previously carried out in as many as 14 different locations in Europe", says Bengt Sivertsen, Vice President of Yara International responsible for the supply chain transformation project.
According to Beda Merkelbach, Yara International's vice president responsible for business services, the business service center receives more than 2,5 thousand calls a day. orders. Its operations will soon cover all European markets. Then the greatest attention will be paid to the further development of an active and maximally customer-oriented organization - to improve, automate, robotize processes.
"Today, Yara International becomes a full-fledged member of the growing family of global business service centers in Lithuania. Over the past few years, we have seen tremendous growth in this sector, which now employs nearly 19 people. qualified specialists. Every new company entering Lithuania brings with it a unique set of competences. In the case of Yara, this is a next-level approach to logistics and transport management," says the Deputy Minister of Economy and Innovation Marius Skoudis.
"We are glad that Yara International has chosen Lithuania as the center of its European transport and logistics operations. From here, the supply of products across the continent will be coordinated. This is the first center of its kind in Lithuania that focuses exclusively on this function. We believe that the arrival of Yara International will be a strong factor in the development of this unique competence, as well as the entire business services industry in the country," says Mantas Katinas, "Invest in Lithuania" General Manager.
The goal is 250 employees
Yara International currently has 230 employees speaking 16 different languages at the European Business Services Center. About a fifth of them are foreigners who came to Lithuania from 26 different countries. Among them are Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Sweden, the United Kingdom, JAV, Venezuela, etc.
Together, they ensure that the company's quality products are delivered to customers in Europe and other countries in a timely and cost-effective manner. In the near future, the company will grow to 250 employees in Lithuania - it is currently looking for Finnish and German-speaking specialists with leadership skills and experience in logistics.
"Although there is a really high demand for talents with foreign language skills in Vilnius, so far the jobs have been filled successfully and we consider settling here as very successful. The average age of our European Business Service Center employees is 31 years. We notice that it is this generation that expects from employers not only remuneration, but also meaningful work content. And this perfectly responds to the company's mission to provide the planet's inhabitants with food resources and at the same time protect the environment", says Anne Berit Bakken, head of human resources development.
Environmentally friendly office
The new office of Yara International, located in the Park Town building "East Hill", spread over the fourth and fifth floors, occupies 4 square meters. sq. meters area. 245 modern workplaces are equipped here, and if necessary, this number can be increased by another 86.
The office was designed taking into account the values of both the Baltic and Scandinavian countries in order to create a comfortable working environment. Its distinctive feature is the curved ceiling and walls, which both soothe the eyes and help ensure safe movement around the office.
The workplaces in the new office are located closer to the outer wall of the building, so that they get as much daylight as possible, while the meeting rooms and other necessary rooms are located in the inner part. Separate spaces are designated for recreation and library, kitchen and dining areas. There are also quiet rooms for when you need to concentrate, and booths for calls or quick meetings. Those looking to take a breather will find a games room with a virtual reality computer, game console, table football and traditional board games.
The office building that houses Yara International is BREEAM certified. This means it is modern, environmentally friendly and energy efficient. The company itself strives to protect the environment - it encourages employees to use public or environmentally friendly transport, and strives to use as little paper and plastic as possible. For example, disposable dishes are not used in the office, all plants are planted in ceramic pots, and the number of printers is limited to six. Even 70 percent the company receives orders electronically, and next year it will aim to increase this number to 90 percent.
Yara International's European Business Services Service Center was established in Vilnius at the end of 2018, and began operations at the beginning of this year. Yara International is one of the world's largest producers of mineral fertilizers. This Norwegian company operates in 60 countries around the world and employs about 17 people. workers.
