Blizzard, the Austrian ski company in which Tecnica Group bought two-thirds of the shares last October, reportedly for very little money, will start production at its new robotized ski factory at Mukachevo, in the Ukraine, next month. With a capacity of 300,000 pairs per year, it will begin with about 40,000 pairs of polyurethane injected skis for children, followed by entry-level adult skis, but it may double its capacity to accommodate extra work for Nordica skis.

Stoeckl, the Austrian wood company that controlled Blizzard for a while recently, previously owned a stake in the Ukrainian plant as well as in Fischer’s big ski factory in the same area, but got out of both investments in 2006. Blizzard now owns 100 percent of the facility, but it plans to continue to produce in Austria, where the previous owners invested a lot on the modernization of the manufacturing equipment, although they did not invest much on the Blizzard brand.

Blizzard is budgeting sales of more than €30 million this year. It made a turnover of €25 million in the 10-month financial year ended last Dec. 31, selling a total of 275,000 pairs. Its acquisition by Nordica, which sold 170,000 pairs of skis last year, is giving Blizzard more critical mass in every respect.

The company is working on a new “individualization” concept for skis that may be introduced in 2008. Meanwhile, it is extending its screwless binding system, IQ, to children’s models that will be manufactured in the Ukrainian facility.