Norway’s Yara International, one of the world’s largest providers of fertilizers and crop nutrition solutions, has just announced plans to open a logistics-focused European Business Centre in Vilnius, Lithuania. The centre is going to occupy a unique place in the company structure, with no counterparts across the world. The company intends to hire around 250 professionals for a wide range of positions – from transport management to customer support.

Before choosing Vilnius for this expansion project, Yara was considering several other locations in Europe.

“We were especially careful when selecting the location for this Business Centre, as it will become a crucial operational Supply Chain node in our European delivery network, responsible for coordinating the delivery of products to all our customers across Europe” says Pablo Barrera Lopez, Executive Vice President in Yara International. “To understand the importance of the Vilnius centre, bear in mind that every single order and every single shipment in Europe will have to be managed by our Lithuanian colleagues. This is a huge responsibility, but we are confident that our latest addition to the Yara family will be fit for the task.”

One of the additional factors that helped Yara make their decision regarding Vilnius was the multilingualism which has become a common trait in the Lithuanian talent pool. While all of the candidates are required to present strong English language skills, the company is also on the look for professionals proficient in German, Dutch, French, Spanish, Italian, Finnish, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Russian, Polish and Czech.

“We also want to express our gratitude to Invest Lithuania for all the support they have provided, in the selection process and also in the early days of the transition,” said Pablo Barrera Lopez.

According to Mantas Katinas, director general of Invest Lithuania, Yara’s decision shows that the Global Business Centre (GBS) segment in Lithuania is becoming more diverse and mature. Currently, there are more than 70 global business services centres in the country, which employ 15,000 specialists, three times more than five years ago. At the same time, the industry is evolving with every new company that sets up in Lithuania.

“Lithuanian specialists working in GBS centres are trusted with tasks that are not just complex but also crucial for the businesses of their parent companies,” Mr Katinas states. “Now, the GBS community is joined by one of the leaders of the agricultural industry, which puts another seal of approval on the Lithuanian talent pool. It is significant that the country will have another channel to showcase its historically strong competencies in the fields of transport and logistics.”

The planned Business Centre will not only strengthen the country’s position on the GBS map but will also help Lithuania to take its logistics competencies to the next level, believes Virginijus Sinkevičius, Lithuania‘s Minister of Economy.

“Last year, the logistics services sector in Lithuania grew by attracting foreign investors with a focus on engineering and logistics automation. Yara’s decision to open a first-of-its-kind for Lithuania transport management Business Centre sheds light on a new niche in the industry and further expands the competencies of the logistics sector, while creating more opportunities for growth,” the Minister of Economy says.

Founded in 1905 to solve emerging famine in Europe, Yara has a worldwide presence with more than 17,000 employees and operations in over 60 countries. In 2017, Yara reported revenues of 9.8 EUR billion. The Norwegian government is the company’s largest shareholder.