Our enamel costs 3–4 rubles and turns yellow. The one for 35–40 won't fade," says Andrei Gurchin, director of OAO Lakokraska, acknowledging the validity of complaints that buyers of his product sometimes make. The enterprise believes: it's better to repaint something that has faded than to pay for a can of premium enamel from a European brand. And yet, why does paint have to stink, how is varnish made from sunflowers, and when will glowing lane dividers appear on roads in Belarus? We visited the production facility and found out everything.

"It stinks so you don't get poisoned"

Belarusians love traditional colors: white, red, cherry, green, blue, yellow, orange. These are the observations shared at the factory, which journalists visited during a press tour of enterprises in the Grodno region. And where do these bright paints begin?

The solvent raw material is obtained at Naftan, additional chemical components are made in-house, and the enamel itself is produced, says Lakokraska director Andrei Gurchin.

"Everyone says Lida paint is easy to recognize from afar because it stinks. We tried making it odorless, thinking: this is what people need.

But buyers concluded that it certainly doesn't smell, but it gives you a headache just the same.

In the end, we returned to the classic. Chemistry is dangerous, after all — better to smell it to avoid health consequences."

"If anything, there's a medical station"

Well, let's go check it out in practice. At the entrance to the site, they honestly warn: not everyone tolerates the smell of solvent well, especially if they're not used to it. And they immediately reassure: "We have a medical station, and we know how to revive you." But it turns out not to be so scary; you can breathe. At the same time, the factory emphasizes: "We have a fully closed production cycle, there is no harm to workers' health."

Andrei Politevich, head of production unit No. 2, explains how organosoluble paint and varnish materials are obtained (simply put, paints based on resins).

"The main operations for producing enamels are loading, dispersing, tinting, and draining. First, the necessary raw materials are loaded on the second floor through loading hatches and dissolvers (special containers with mixers where the liquid base and dry components are mixed at high speed. — Onlíner's note)."

Then it goes into a bead mill. As you might guess, inside there are actually tiny beads that grind and crush the pigments. "Dispersing," Andrei Politevich adds to the journalists' vocabulary.

In the tanks, the future paint is tinted, filtered if necessary, and drained. Then comes packaging, but the paint reaches stores only after passing inspection by the technical control department.

— We have a laboratory that develops materials for the customer. An enterprise tells us, for example: we need to paint such-and-such a surface — tell us with what.

Our laboratory studies the surface material and develops a paint for the specific request. After that, the production stages are roughly the same — everything is done on this equipment, clarifies Andrei Politevich.

Paint from sunflower oil

Quality indicators of both raw materials and finished products are monitored in five laboratories of the plant. And finished products are checked for hygienic, fire, and explosion hazards in independent laboratories, emphasizes Lyudmila Ivanova, head of the technical control department.

About 10% of paints and varnishes are supplied for export — these products are sold mainly to the East. There is no point in shipping further than Kazakhstan and Georgia due to logistics costs, believes Andrei Gurchin.

Spray gun ECO SG-8000

Spray gun ECO SG-5000

According to him, about 60% of raw materials are now of Belarusian origin. Not only has it not been possible to fully switch to Belarusian components, it is impossible, the director emphasizes.

— As for colored elements, the country, for example, does not have its own titanium dioxide (white pigment. — Note by Onlíner). About 30% of the base of varnish resin is sunflower or soybean oil. So, we are maximally interested in buying it from Belarusian plants, and we are working on the issue of a tandem with agricultural enterprises.

Glowing road markings — good, but not cost-effective?

According to the director, Lida produces a full range of paint and varnish materials — from automotive enamels (currently being tested on agricultural harvesters) to water-based materials.

• 80% of the country's road markings are ours.

In response to an Onlíner journalist's question about when the country's roads will become safer thanks to glowing road markings, the interviewee answers as follows:

— It's a matter of price. Fluorescent pigments cost about 20 times more. And considering that road markings last on average six to seven months, there is no point in spending that kind of money. Even thermoplastic rumble strips last two years in our conditions, and then they have to be replaced.

Everyone thinks that the paint on our roads glows from headlights. It's not the paint that glows: when road workers apply it, they add glass beads about a millimeter in diameter to it — it is these beads that reflect headlight light. I don't think projects with fluorescent paint have a future. Either way, it will peel off.

If we set such prices, no one will take the paint. We'll bury the budget.

White enamel yellows and will continue to yellow

As the manager says, each paint contains