UPM Pulp Matters 2/2023

Ana Inés Lucián runs the business together with her two brothers, Israel and Joaquín.

driver, taking workers from nearby towns to the Paso de los Toros construction site and back. After the opening of the mill, even more workers needed a ride to work. There is no public transport in the area and the train line is still under construction, so it is difficult for employees to move around without their own car. Now the Lucián family business transports workers to the mill 365 days a year. Lucián mentions that the road leading to the mill is in very good condition by the standards of Uruguay – something that professional drivers need to think about day in and day out. However, the traffic in her home province Tacuarembó is not as frantic as in other parts of Latin America, “even then you have to be alert while driving,” she explains. “With the UPM agreement, our business has probably grown by several hundred per cent.” Now the family has invested in more vehicles and opened a second office in Paso de los Toros. For Lucián, a larger customer base means a heavier workload and more organisation. Problematic situations have to be solved quickly and sometimes the working hours are long. For her it’s a question of pride that the company maintains its excellent reputation. The siblings make all important decisions collectively, but she has had to learn to delegate more tasks to other people.

“In the beginning, I handled the company’s accounting myself but nowadays it’s outsourced to another firm,” she says. I n the early stages of her career Ana Inés Lucián would not have thought that the company would expand to such an extent. Neither did her parents. “My parents are immensely proud. They have already retired but are not left out of decision-making – they are still involved as legal partners and we consult them in difficult decisions.” How about her own future? Is she going to stay in Durazno? “I’m not going anywhere anymore. I’m going to retire from this company,” she says laughing. However, her wish is to study tourism when there’s more time. In addition to work, family life requires attention as she has two children of primary school age. Lucián hopes that in the future one of them will take over the business. “My children are interested in what I do. I have encouraged them to study languages so that they could work with international projects. My brothers also have children, so let’s see who is interested in jumping behind the wheel and continuing in our footsteps. I hope that our family business will eventually continue from one generation to the next.”

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