In the Marijampolė District – a €200 million investment in the timber industry: the modern FT Board plant has been granted major project status
The Ministry of Economy and Innovation has granted "FT Board" the status of a major investment project for the construction of a particleboard (MDP) factory in the Marijampolė district. The €200 million project, which will create 125 jobs, will become one of the largest and most technologically advanced MDP production complexes in the Baltic states.
“The agreement on this major investment project signifies that the government and the business community are working together: we are creating a favorable environment for investment, while FT Board is investing in high-value-added manufacturing, creating jobs in the regions, and strengthening Lithuania’s position in international markets. It is particularly important that this project is based on the principles of the circular economy – this is one of the directions in which the country’s industrial transformation should move,” says Minister of Economy and Innovation Edvinas Grikšas.
The integration of circular economy principles into manufacturing processes is one of the project’s key features. The factory is designed to use low-grade wood, which is unsuitable for high-quality products, as well as byproducts from the timber industry. The production cycle is designed to minimize waste and maximize resource efficiency. This is not only an environmentally friendly solution but also an economically sound one – raw materials that would otherwise generate less value will be transformed into high-quality products.
“The signing of this major investment project agreement is an important step that confirms both the direction of our strategy and the government’s confidence in this investment. We are building one of the most modern MDP plants in the region, aiming not only to meet the growing demand in European markets but also to demonstrate that Lithuanian industry can compete with the best plants in this field across the continent. This investment is a continuation of our long-term strategy: to create products with ever-greater added value and to compete successfully in international markets,” says Rimas Macijauskas, CEO of FT Board.
FT Board was founded in 2024 when the furniture manufacturer Freda and the TMV Capital group of companies – which operates in the fields of wood processing, logistics, and digital business solutions – joined forces to build a new factory. The factory’s location in the village of Nendriniškiai in the Marijampolė district was chosen for its logistical efficiency – it is situated near the Rail Baltica railway infrastructure and the Via Baltica highway. This location allows for the optimization of both raw material supply and the export of products to key markets – Poland and Western Europe.
According to Elijus Čivilis, head of the investment promotion agency “Invest Lithuania”, a strong local business sector is one of the most important drivers of the country’s economic growth:
“The project will not only become a major economic hub in the Marijampolė region, but will also strengthen Lithuania’s furniture industry – a sector that generates approximately €2.5 billion in output annually and is one of the country’s most export-oriented industrial segments. The FT Board factory is a living example of what our companies are capable of: it is a modern project aimed at international markets that strengthens both the region and the country’s entire industry,” says E. Čivilis.
Since 2025, Invest Lithuania has been advising Lithuanian businesses seeking or having obtained major project status. During this period, the agency has advised more than 80 Lithuanian-owned companies. You can contact Invest Lithuania for consultations on submitting large-scale project applications, project implementation, and taking advantage of special investment and business conditions for large-scale projects.
Projects in the manufacturing sector or in the provision of data processing and web server services may qualify for major project status if their investment in fixed assets is at least €20 million (€30 million for investments in Vilnius) and they create at least 20 new jobs. Such projects are eligible for a 0% corporate income tax rate for a period of up to 20 years, expedited land-use planning and building permit issuance, a simplified immigration process for foreign specialists, and accelerated infrastructure development; a coordinator from “Invest in Lithuania” is also assigned to ensure that the project receives all the special investment and business conditions provided for.