Since 1992, the Kwidzyn mill has been part of International Paper, a leading global packaging and paper company. The facility in Kwidzyn near Gdansk, historically known as “Zakłady Celulozowo-Papiernicze w budowie” (pulp & paper mill under construction), was established as a state production unit following a decision issued by the Minister for Forestry and Timber Industry on July 17, 1972. With the economic transformation at the end of the 1980s and in the early 1990s and the related slump in the paper industry, the mill management conceded that to keep the mill in existence, it needed to be privatized. The Kwidzyn mill was finally transformed into a single-shareholder state-owned company as of January 1, 1991.
In August 1992, International Paper Corporation acquired an 80% share in the Kwidzyn Pulp & Paper Mill, then purchased the remaining shares to become 100% shareholder. In 1994, the mill was renamed to “International Paper Kwidzyn”.
Following the acquisition International Paper began to invest in the modernization and upgrading of the Kwidzyn mill with the Kwidzyn Optimization Program (Phase 1 started in 1993 and phase 2 in 1997). As of 2014, investments amount to a total of over $800 million and the Kwidzyn mill is one of the most modern pulp & paper mills in Europe.
Today, at the 25th anniversary of the new Polish system, the privatization of the Kwidzyn mill in 1992 is seen as a model for a successful business transformation that resulted in International Paper’s Kwidyn mill becoming one of the acknowledged pillars of the Polish economy and one of its most valued employers.