Partially destroyed Swiss plant resumes operations in Hostomel after war-induced hiatus
After more than a year of downtime in Hostomel, the factory for the production of glass containers of the Swiss holding Vetropack resumed work, reported the company's website.
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On May 25, the first glass furnace was heated, brought to operating temperature, and loaded. The commissioning of the second furnace will take place in the near future. The first batch of products will be manufactured in June.
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On the first day of the full-scale Russian invasion, February 24, 2022, Vetropack halted production for security reasons. In a few days, the plant was seriously damaged, with one of the three furnaces destroyed.
The losses forced the company to cut about two-thirds of its approximately 600 jobs. So far, Vetropack has hired 139 new employees to resume production. Most of them are former employees of the plant.
During the restoration of the plant, all possible emergency scenarios were taken into account. The electricity distribution system was rebuilt and additional generators were installed. Action plans have also been developed in case of possible natural gas supply interruptions.
"The domestic market is slowly recovering and many companies have restarted production. We expect the demand for glass containers for food and beverages to grow by around 7% in 2023 compared to the previous year," commented Pavel Prynko, CEO of Vetropack in Ukraine and Moldova.
