The beginning of the Riga Varnish and Paint Factory can be traced back to 1898, at 63/65 Daugavgrīvas Street, where the factory is still located.
In 1798, Leopold Kassella, a Jewish businessman, established a company of chemical product (paints, medicines, cosmetics) manufacture in Frankfurt am Main – Leopold Kassella & Co.
Chemical engineer Mārtiņš Kalniņš had graduated from the University of Jena (Germany) and gained experience in leading German chemical companies.
In 1921, Mārtiņš Kalniņš founded his own company, Ķīmiskā fabrika Mārtiņš Kalniņš (Mārtiņš Kalniņš Chemical Factory) and began producing dry paints, and later oil paints and enamels.
Along with paints, the production of detergents (including the well-known Nitra) and cleaning and degreasing products had been started.
A scientific laboratory was set up at the factory to carry out research in building protection, metal protection against corrosion, wood protection and clothing care and cleaning.
In 1930–1937, Mārtiņš Kalniņš negotiated with Leopold Kassella & Co the purchase of premises and equipment.
On 27 November 1937, a purchase agreement was signed with Leopold Kassela & Co. Mārtiņš Kalniņš Chemical Factory moved to the new premises. The factory was reconstructed.
The capacity of the factory increased, the range of products expanded. Some production processes were mechanized.
The factory employed about 100 workers.
Using the experience gained in Germany, M. Kalniņš used modern advertising solutions.
During the Soviet era, the factory was taken over by the State. The factory was named as Nitra Chemical Factory.
Mārtiņš Kalniņš was appointed as the director of the factory.
He was dismissed in April 1941, arrested and deported.
The factory produced dry earth paints, oil paints, mineral pigments, antiseptics for wood and the popular Nitra powder detergent.
In German times, the factory was named Nitra Chemische Werke.
Production was shrinking. Soda ash and caustic soda and laundry detergents were produced.
Part of the production equipment was dismantled and prepared for shipping to Germany.
After the war, when the Soviet rule was re-established, the factory resumed paint production operations. The company came under the local Ministry of Industry.
Equipment at the milling and chemical paint units was overhauled. The factory produced mineral pigments and organic pigments, colouring agents, dry glue paints.
The number of employees was between 80 and 100.
In 1951, the factory came under the Ministry of Chemical Industry of the USSR and acquired the name Rīgas laku un krāsu rūpnīca (RLKR, Riga Varnish and Paint Factory).
Reconstruction and significant expansion of the factory began. The company became one of the largest in its industry in the country. A wide range of products was made: alkyd enamels, primers for agricultural machinery and equipment, polyester and uralkyd enamels, electrophoretic primers for automotive plants, alkyd and polyester varnishes, dry white zinc, anti-fouling enamels for shipyards, etc.
In 1965–1991, consumers in Latvia and other Soviet republics purchased the factory’s products. Among them were the largest USSR automobile plants in Gorky, Izhevsk and Moscow, agricultural machinery plants, Minsk and Lviv TV factories, Riga radio factory, furniture factories, musical instrument factories, shipyards and repair factories.
RLKR actively cooperated with several scientific institutes in Moscow and Leningrad in the development of new types of products.
In 1992, RLKR came under the jurisdiction of Latvia, breaking all links of subordination to the former USSR Ministry of Chemical Industry and institutes. The factory was renamed as State Riga Varnish and Paint Factory.
In 1995–1996, the factory was privatized. During this period, its name was Riga Varnish and Paint Factory to be Privatized.
On 23 February 1996, the company was registered under the name Rīgas laku un krāsu rūpnīca SIA (Riga Varnish and Paint Factory LLC) and became a private company. One of the owners was Mārtiņš Kalniņš, a son of Mārtiņš Kalniņš senior. The company kept producing previous products and developed and put into production more than 50 new products in the following years.
Today, Riga Paint and Varnish Factory is a leader in the production of paint and varnish products in the Baltic States.
The factory’s paint and varnish tinting system allows the customer to choose any shade from a palette of more than 6,000.
Technological equipment is modernized and updated every year, which allows to ensure compliance with specific and continuously more stringent requirements for paint and varnish materials.
Daugavgrīvas iela 63/65, Rīga, LV-1007
Reģistrācijas Nr.: 40003284444
PVN Nr.: LV40003284444
Banka: A/S Swedbank
Konts: LV23HABA0019308047593
Bankas kods: HABALV22
