The site has been secured under a long-term land agreement with Latvijas Valsts Meži, Latvia’s state forestry company. The project was announced in Jēkabpils by Minister of Economics Viktors Valainis, Minister of Smart Administration and Regional Development Edgars Tavars, Ministry of Defence State Secretary Airis Rikveilis, Jēkabpils County Municipality Chairman Raivis Ragainis and Wolfram Europa CEO Magnus-Valdemar Saar.
At full build-out, the complex is designed to synthesize 300 metric tons of RDX or 100 metric tons of HMX, with capacity for further expansion. It will also produce end-use compositions including Composition B, Composition H, Composition A-3, A-4 and A-5, C-4, PBX and other formulations.
The facility is planned to fill and assemble 100,000 anti-tank mines and 200,000 warheads annually. It will also be designed to hold as much as 1,200 metric tons of net explosive quantity, providing a buffer intended to maintain supply during disruption and crisis.
“Investments of this scale represent a significant step forward in the development of Latvia’s defence industry and, at the same time, demonstrate Latvia’s ability to attract strategically important industrial projects to its regions,” Valainis said. “Our goal is to build a competitive and export-oriented defence industry in Latvia that strengthens national security, creates high-value-added jobs and makes a long-term contribution to economic growth. The €200 million investment and approximately 200 new jobs in Jēkabpils county represent a significant contribution both to the development of the region and to Latvia’s overall industrial capacity.”
Wolfram Europa said it plans to build enough capacity to become the largest explosives manufacturer in Europe and described the continent’s existing production base as insufficient for expected demand. The company said the Jēkabpils facility would provide a major increase in explosives and warhead capacity and serve as a blueprint for modern explosives development, with Latvia becoming an exporter of technologies rather than an importer.
The company said Europe is undertaking its largest defense-industrial mobilization in generations, with billions being invested in missiles, artillery ammunition, air defense, drones and autonomous systems. It said Russia currently outproduces Europe in explosives by roughly three to one and argued that weapons output is growing faster than the explosives and energetic-material production needed to support it.
“For the last 35 years, Europe has been scaling down its explosives and munitions industry — and technological development has stalled with it,” Saar said. “Now Europe is rearming, but investment is still focused mainly on platforms and final assembly. That is the explosives gap: Europe is scaling its weapons faster than the explosives and warheads that make them effective. Wolfram Europa was created to do two things: close that capacity gap and make the technological leap — producing world-class explosives and warheads with the most modern technologies and manufacturing methods. Latvia has decided to create the conditions for this production. Jēkabpils will not serve Latvia alone — Latvia will host strategic production capacity for Europe. It will be our first major site, but not our last.”
The Jēkabpils complex will integrate synthesis, mixing, filling and assembly at one controlled site and is being designed from the outset for mass manufacturing. Wolfram Europa said the facility will use a low-footprint, relocatable design so production can be scaled and repositioned when required.
The complex is being designed to NATO explosive safety standards and will operate under Latvian licensing requirements. Wolfram Europa said the project is intended to provide the volume, resilience and security of supply required at the upstream end of Europe’s defense-industrial expansion.
“The establishment of such a company strengthens the involvement of Latvia’s defence industry, promotes the development of technologies and expertise, and demonstrates Latvia’s ambition to become a significant regional hub for defence industry and technology development,” Rikveilis said. “At the same time, it represents an important benefit for the municipality and contributes to broader economic development. In the long term, the development of Latvia’s defence industry will create additional opportunities to strengthen our national security, resilience of supply chains, and cooperation with our Allies.”
Local officials also presented the investment as a contribution to Jēkabpils County’s economic development and the wider security of the Baltic region. Ragainis said: “It is currently of strategic importance that we are a strong component of the unified NATO alliance and can provide significant support to our allies. We therefore greatly appreciate the company’s decision to develop its production facilities right here in Jēkabpils county; this represents a vital contribution not only to the local area’s development through new job creation but also to the broader security of the Baltic region. We are also delighted that companies of this calibre see potential in our municipality, and we remain open to the arrival and growth of other new businesses in Jēkabpils county.”
Tavars said his role would include helping ensure administrative requirements do not delay the investment. “This is a massive and very significant investment for the Jēkabpils region. It will create many new jobs. This is important for the Jēkabpils region’s development, economy, and national security. My task is to ensure that unnecessary bureaucracy does not stand in the way of this project and that the investment can flow into Jēkabpils.”
