AB Gubernija, which owns a brewery in Šiauliai, will be reorganised and merged with MV GROUP Production. Following the reorganisation process, the legal entity AB Gubernija will be deregistered, and all of its rights and obligations, including obligations to employees, will be taken over by AB MV GROUP Production, which acquired the Gubernija brewery back in the spring of 2018. The company is tentatively scheduled to complete the merger process by the end of April.

“The purpose of these changes is to integrate Gubernija as much as possible into the common processes of MV GROUP Production. Extensive experience has shown that the synergy of production forces united under one roof makes it possible to dramatically increase business efficiency and create a unique portfolio of products and services. We are proud of our commitment to Lithuanian brewing traditions, and we plan to continue the work of the brewery’s founders, modernise production processes, and strengthen Gubernija’s position locally, nationally and globally. Ultimately, the implemented administrative changes will also allow for faster and broader employee development, since the streamlined internal processes will encourage collaboration between the factories,” says MV GROUP Production CEO Algirdas Čiburys.

Mr Čiburys also stresses that Gubernija employees will not be substantially affected by these changes – the number and nature of jobs, as well as remuneration and other social guarantees, will remain the same.

The name of the brewery will not change either. The Gubernija brand, which has been around for hundreds of years, was revamped by MV GROUP last autumn, in parallel with the modernisation of the brewery and the product range update. In total, MV GROUP Production has already invested more than EUR 2.6 million in the Gubernija revamp.

Sharing experience and capacity

At the moment, MV GROUP Production is the legal owner of three beverage factories in Lithuania: Stumbras in Kaunas, Alita in Alytus and Anykščių Vynas in Anykščiai.

According to Mr Čiburis, MV GROUP Production’s experience has shown that the selected business model, where the companies managing individual factories are united while preserving the identity, traditions and specialisation of each factory, is beneficial to all stakeholders.

“First and foremost, this makes organising the work of the factories simpler and more efficient, for example, by setting up joint units or divisions, taking care of the necessary licenses or using company technology, which is something we do all the time. It also encourages the development of professionals – bringing together individual beverage manufacturers in a single company and enabling them to collaborate expands their knowledge and competencies, and creates an opportunity to easily pursue a career path between factories,” says the MV GROUP Production CEO. 

Mr Čiburis adds that the optimised management and close relationships between factories make it possible to develop unique products and adapt flexibly to the needs of the consumer market.

“An excellent example of this synergy is the recent launch of Voruta bitters. In this case, Anykščių Vynas’s experience with natural berry and fruit juices intertwined with Stumbras’s experience in making bitters. The partnership resulted in a unique natural product which has been rated very highly by consumers. Under other conditions, in the absence of a range of specialists and different production lines, this would have been impossible. Meanwhile, we were able to combine the experience of different factories, and this decision proved to be a good one,” says Mr Čiburys, emphasising that this kind of cooperation between the factories is going on constantly.

MV GROUP Production, which is part of MV GROUP, is one of the largest alcoholic beverage production companies in Lithuania. The company currently has about 530 employees. The four factories operate a total of 20 production lines.