CubaPLUS Magazine

When a person dedicates more than half of his life to a profession, it can be said that he truly loves it and, if when talking about his work he does it with great passion, it is more than obvious that he lives and will always live for it. One such man is Luis Alberto Súrez Ibarra, with whom CubaPLUS Guyana was able to talk for more than an hour, despite the little time that his responsibility affords him.

Founded 35 years ago, the company Pinturas Vitral is today an example of efficiency for national industry because despite all the country’s difficulties, to which the company has been no stranger, it has managed to carry out proposed production and, above all, with the required quality.

In an exclusive interview with CubaPLUS Guyana, its general director, Eng. Luis Alberto Súrez Ibarra, gave a broad overview of the work carried out by the institution which, even during the most difficult years of the pandemic, was able to fulfill its production plans.

Since the beginning of last year, he explained,thecompanyhascarried out a resizing process, which made it possible to go from having 13 Basic Business Units (UEB) to having only five: three producers andtwomarketers,whichledtothe set objective - to achieve very good results-beingmet.

Thepurposeofthemeasures adopted at that time, he reiterated, was to increase work efficiency in accordance with the situation demanded by the country, and today the factories sell alongside the sales companies.

The factories, he continued, are located: one in Havana, the other in San José, in the province of Mayabeque, and the third in Nuevitas, Camagüey. These supply the sales companies with the products to be distributed throughout the national commercial network.

The two sales companies are in the central region and in the eastern part of the island, respectively, although we have provincial representatives who also sell, located in Pinar del Río, Matanzas, Villa Clara, Sancti Spíritus, Ciego de &Aávila, Camagüey, the UEB of Holguín and in Santiago de Cuba. Our aim is to have a presence in all provinces," he said.

Last year, the total production of the company, which belongs to the Light Industry Business Group (GEMPIL), reached 8.5 million liters of paint, including solvent-based paint (enamels), water-based paint (vinyl) and waterproof paint. For this year, a total of 9 million liters is expected, and by 2023, 9.5 million liters.

He further stated that the results achieved can be seen in the profits, which average around 50,000 Cuban pesos per worker per quarter, a significant figure if one considers that Vitral has 472 employees,includingspecialists, technicians and workers.

For Vitral, he continued, it is vital to attend to and help any difficulties of our workers. For this reason we have an annual budget destined to finance repair of houses, and also to motivate outstanding employees with company-paid vacations in one of the country’s tourist centers. When answering a question about the company’s business possibilities, he said that &we have the facilities, the manpower and, above all, the intellectual capacity of our workers and technicians, that is to say, the fundamentals. In a word: we are open to foreign investment."

Among the company’s upcoming projects are the creation of paint application brigades -there is already one in Havana-, a service offered by producers in many countries around the world, which makes it possible to add value to the work.

Another of the plans for the near future is to export paints to some Central American and Caribbean countries, although he acknowledged that there is strong competition in that sensebecausetheyhavegood quality paint. However, he said, ours meet all the required standards.

We are taking solid steps and the results are being achieved. The will to do things, daily life and systematic work are the keys to achieve efficiency in a company. Desire is power and ifwewanttodoit,wecan,"he said.


General Director
Luis Alberto Súrez Ibarra luis.alberto@vitral.cu +53 5279 1218

Production Director
María del Carmen Rodríguez Díaz m.carmen@vitral.cu
+53 5215 4498

Comercial Director
Dánae Pérez Pomares danae.perez@vitral.cu +53 5216 9081