En
bgThe history of Monbat begins in 1959, when the production of lead-acid batteries starts in a state-owned company in Montana, Bulgaria, later privatized in 1998. In 1999, it grew up in the newly founded Monbat Company and has since become the largest battery producer in Eastern Europe with production and recycling plants in five different countries.
Company inception and transition into private sector
Establishment of manufacturing plants
Privatization of the Company
1959
Opening of the starter batteries factory in Montana, Bulgaria, under state ownership
1965
Start Plant established in Dobrich. The facility begins production of lead-acid batteries mainly for export to AvtoVaz in Russia
1983 - 1986
Re-equipment of the production factory with modern machinery in Montana
1992
The Company is filed in the Commercial register under the name AKUMIKAR AD and headquartered in Mihailovgrad (now Montana)
1998
AKUMIKAR AD is privatized and becomes a private company
1999
Monbat company is certified for compliance with the requirements of ISO 9001
Development of integrated manufacturing
Added recycling capability
Product diversification
2000
Monbat AD completes its first installation for recycling of used lead-acid batteries in Bulgaria
2001
Beginning of the production of Absorbent Glass Mat (AGM) batteries in Montana
Building a pan-European presence
IPO and Company consolidation
Rapid growth
Product diversification
Capacity expansion program
Implementation of a modernisation program
2006
Monbat makes a successful initial public offering /IPO/ of 4 700 000 shares, thus the company acquires the status of a public company
Monbat AD acquires 67% of Start, Dobrich
2008
Monbat AD increases its capital to BGN 39.0m
2010
Net Sales Revenue exceeds EUR 82.31m
The recycling facility in Serbia is opened
2011
The recycling facility in Romania is opened
2012
CAPEX spending on the capacity expansion program amounts to € 3.9m including € 1.1m on recycling facilities
2013
Monbat AD completes an additional € 3.2m investment as part of its capacity expansion program
2014
Additional € 3.3m spending in CAPEX for the new punching technology. In late 2014 a “Fit for Future” programme is initiated to implement incremental improvements in a wide range of activities, such as lean manufacturing, IT modernisation
2015 – 2016
Continuous focus on initiatives related to production capacity expansion: new additional warehouses are built and additional equipment is purchased. A total of
€ 5.5m is spent to increase the production capacity in Start AD ranging of 85% on Y-t-Y basis. A total of € 3m is spent in Monbat AD to increase the production capacity of the plant with 20% YtY. Steps are initiated to obtain technology for production of pure tin
2016
Monbat establishes Energy Batteries Nigeria Limited
Group Expansion
2017
Monbat Economic Group acquires two German companies in Lithium-Ion business of high power cells and systems - Gaia Akkumulatorenwerke GmbH and EAS Germany GmbH, and merges them into EAS Batteries GmbH
Piombifera Italiana S.p.A. – the third biggest batteries recycling company in Italy – becomes part of Monbat Economic Group
2018
Monbat Economic Group widens its presence in the South-African market by opening Monbat South Africa Proprietary Ltd.
The company Monbat Batterien in Austria is established
2019
Acquisition of STC S.R.L. as part of developing the high-tech engineering business
Establishing a new company A.R.T.Monbat with focus on the use of the latest nano technologies
Achieving full potential of Monbat
2020 - 2025
Monbat will continue to pursue operational improvements and efficiencies, for which significant scope exists, in order to drive further EBITDA expansion, in addition to its existing business plan