About us
VUC Services spol s.r.o., has been conducting its business activities in Zvoleněves,
in the premises of a former sugar refinery, since 2001. The establishment of the
company and its original activity are closely connected with the development of the Czech sugar
industry after 1990, respectively with the changes made in the former Sugar Research Institute.
Hindsight:
The Sugar Research Institute /VÚC/, which once occupied the premises of the Modřany sugar refinery
underwent a number of changes after the privatisation of the Czech sugar industry.
At a very fast pace, it developed from a subsidised research institution into a development and engineering
workplace with great innovative potential.
In 2001 the original VÚC was divided into two companies, namely VUC Praha a.s. and VUC Services spol s.r.o.
Several transfers of property and employees took place so that the two companies are currently fully
independent of each other. In connection with the closure of the Modřany sugar refinery and the
demolition of the facilities, the two succession organisations had to find a new location to conduct
their activities.
VUC Praha a.s. which took over the development and engineering activities of the original workplace is currently
active in Prague-Písnice.
VUC Services s.r.o. took over, from the original workplace, the production of food supplements based on sugar
and beet fibre and liquid sugars with fruit concentrates as semi-finished products for the beverage industry.
VUC Services also took some of the staff from the Sugar Research Institute from the former workplace at Modřany
and some staff from the recently closed sugar refinery at Zvoleněves. It also took over all of the financial and
environmental obligations of the former sugar refinery.
Use of the premises:
The company has tried to gradually use the facilities within the premises of the former sugar refinery and,
at the same time, provide employment opportunities to the local inhabitants who, after the closure of the refinery,
lost the opportunity of employment there. Over recent years and through our own financial means, an agricultural
distillery has been built in the part of the premises that uses fruit from the large local growing region.
In addition to this, the company also selected appropriate offices and invested financial means into the construction
of an archive for archiving documents from the former sugar refinery and the unique VUC library where references to the
history of Czech sugar industry date back to the 18th century can be found. The library is professionally managed and
still serves the general public through the mediation of the National Technical Library.
The necessity to diversify the company's activities is, apart from other things, also related to the decline
of the Czech sugar industry resulting from EU reforms. It is therefore to be expected that sugar based production
will be significantly suppressed after 2010 and that it will be necessary to look for new ways to utilise the staff.
Our intention to build a production line for the manufacturing of ecological mulch mats has been driven by this effort.
Our vision:
Our long-term goal when selecting new projects aimed at the extension of our activities has always been not only
to preserve, but also to create new work opportunities. The Kladno region has lost a number of work opportunities
in the past, apart from other things, due to the decline of the local sugar industry. We are interested in innovative
projects through which we would like, to a certain extent, to preserve the connection of our plant and the local
region with agriculture and the food industry.
Our next priority is to emphasise the ecology and renewable resources within the framework of each new project.
Our intention is to improve the situation in a region that was affected by a great ecological burden caused by
the heavy industries of the past.
