Vetropack resumes production in Ukraine

In june the Vetropack’s Ukrainian site will resume the production of white glass for food and drinks. The plant had been severely damaged during a Russian military attack.

After a stop of just over a year, production of glass packaging is starting up again at Vetropack’s Ukrainian site PrJSC Gostomel near Kyiv where the company will initially resume the production of white glass for food and drinks, as this is where the company sees the greatest demand.

"The domestic market has slowly been recovering, and many companies are restarting production," says Pavel Prinko, General Manager of Ukraine and Republic of Moldova Business Unit. "We expect demand for glass packaging for food and drinks to increase in 2023 by about seven per cent vs 2022, which is in line with our production capacity."

The priority in resuming operations is to protect the workforce. In addition, the site is prepared for all possible emergency scenarios. Vetropack has developed various engineering scenarios in an effort to ensure energy supply in the event of blackouts or possible gas supply disruptions.

Until the outbreak of the war, Vetropack produced a variety of glass packaging with three furnaces and eight production lines at the Ukrainian site. Due to military activity, the plant has been severely damaged and one of the three furnaces was destroyed. The company was forced to cut around two thirds of the approximately 600 jobs at the site, but it has now hired 139 employees primarily former staff of the site.