Baltik vairas (English: ''Baltic steering wheel'') is a bicycle manufacturer located in Šiauliai,

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

. Tracing its lineage to 1948, the present-day joint-stock company Baltik vairas was established in 1993, after

privatization Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...

of a state-owned enterprise and is one of the largest bicycle manufacturers in

Northern Europe The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe Northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54th parallel north, 54°N, or may be based on other g ...

. Baltik vairas focuses on product development, coating and coloring of

bicycle components For other cycling related terms (besides parts) see Glossary of cycling. List of bicycle parts by alphabetic order: * Axle: as in the generic definition, a rod that serves to attach a wheel to a bicycle and provides support for bearings on whic ...

bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. Bic ...

decoration and assembly as well as delivery and warranty (full service). The company manufactures around 320,000 bicycles per year, with annual capacity of 500,000, and exports its production to 15 countries.

Details

Baltik vairas offers city, trekking,

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...

, and kids' bikes as well as

e-bike An electric bicycle (e-bike, eBike, etc.) is a motorized bicycle with an integrated electric motor used to assist propulsion. Many kinds of e-bikes are available worldwide, but they generally fall into two broad categories: bikes that assist ...

s and custom bicycles such as tandems, tricycles for ice-cream carts, industrial bicycles etc. In total, around 500 different models and over 50 brand-name bicycles are manufactured each year. The company is one of the largest employers in

Šiauliai district Šiauliai (; bat-smg, Šiaulē; german: Schaulen, ) is the fourth largest city in Lithuania, with a population of 107,086. From 1994 to 2010 it was the capital of Šiauliai County. Names Šiauliai is referred to by various names in different l ...

. It has 320 permanent employees and during the peak season, the number of employees usually exceeds 600. The

turnover Turnover or turn over may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media *''Turn Over'', a 1988 live album by Japanese band Show-Ya * Turnover (band), an American rock band *"Turnover", a song on Fugazi's 1990 album '' Repeater'' *''Turnover'', a Japane ...

of Baltik vairas reached 56.1 mln. EUR in 2013. The main market of Baltik vairas is

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

, however, expansion to Northern,

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

and

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...

an markets is planned in the near future. Baltik vairas is a member of German–Baltic Chamber of Commerce and of Šiauliai Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Crafts.

History

The company traces its history to a state enterprise established on 23 December 1948 in the Lithuanian SSR. It began producing bicycles for teenagers called (English: ''little eagle''; boys' version) in 1951 and bicycles Kregždutė (English: ''little swallow''; girls' version) in 1952. Initially, since 1950, they were manufactured in the

Belarusian SSR The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, or Byelorussian SSR; be, Беларуская Савецкая Сацыялістычная Рэспубліка, Bielaruskaja Savieckaja Sacyjalistyčnaja Respublika; russian: Белор� ...

at the (MMBP) under the corresponding Russian names "Orlyonok" and "Lastochka" based on the pre-WWII German models. Their manufacturing was transferred to Lithuania after MMBP started manufacturing

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

motorcycle, based on the equipment taken from the German

DKW DKW (''Dampf-Kraft-Wagen'', en, "steam-powered car", also ''Deutsche Kinder-Wagen'' en, "German children's car". ''Das-Kleine-Wunder'', en, "the little wonder" or ''Des-Knaben-Wunsch'', en, "the boy's wish"- from when the company built to ...

factory as part of Soviet World War II reparations. These bicycles were exported to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

, and

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. It was the first export item produced by a Šiauliai city industrial enterprise. On 23 June 1964, the factory was renamed into Šiauliai bicycle–engine factory Vairas. By 1982, it employed 3,500 people. The joint Lithuanian–German company Baltik vairas was founded on 18 March 1993. It purchased a portion of the state-owned enterprise and became one of the holdings of Panther International GmbH. By 1999, the company produced one million bicycles. In 2011, the 5,000,000th bicycle left the production line (since privatization). In September 2013, a private

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

investor acquired shares of the company.

References

{{Authority control Cycle manufacturers Cycling in Lithuania Manufacturing companies of Lithuania Manufacturing companies established in 1993 1993 establishments in Lithuania Companies based in Šiauliai Lithuanian brands