Verallia temporarily stops production of its Zorya site in Ukraine
Paris, February 28, 2022
Verallia has been following very closely the developments in Ukraine since Wednesday night and sadly regrets this current development. The Group first priority is to ensure the safety of its employees.
Given the recent evolution of the situation and to protect its teams locally, Verallia has decided to temporarily suspend its production in Ukraine while keeping its two furnaces in hot condition for the moment.
” We have decided to temporarily shut down production – in line with our crisis plans – in an orderly and controlled manner at the present time in order to protect the workforce,” says Dr. Dirk Bissel, CEO of Verallia Deutschland AG, to which the site belongs. “Thanks to our preparations in recent weeks and months, the situation at the plant can proceed in a planned manner and without any major risk,” Dr. Dirk Bissel continued.
Verallia has limited exposure to Ukraine, with one plant located in the West part of the country. Last year sales represented around €50 million in 2021. Half of the production is sold to local customers while the rest is mostly exported to rest of Europe.
Verallia is following the situation on a real time basis. Should the situation worsen, the Group would completely stop its production in a controlled manner that preserves the capital investment and allows the plant to be restarted at some point in the future.
The whole Group thanks and supports all the teams on site for their cooperation and commitment during this difficult and special time, wishing an early, peaceful end to the disputes and thus a rapid return and normalization of the situation.
About Verallia – At Verallia, our purpose is to re-imagine glass for a sustainable future. We want to redefine how glass is produced, reused and recycled, to make it the world’s most sustainable packaging material. We are joining forces with our customers, suppliers and other partners across the value chain to develop beneficial and sustainable new solutions for all. With around 10,000 employees and 32 glass production facilities in 11 countries, we are the European leader and the world’s third-largest producer of glass packaging for beverages and food products. We offer innovative, customised and environmentally friendly solutions to over 10,000 businesses worldwide. In 2021, Verallia produced more than 16 billion glass bottles and jars and posted revenue of €2.7 billion. Verallia is listed on compartment A of the regulated market of Euronext Paris (Ticker: VRLA – ISIN: FR0013447729) and is included in the following indices: SBF 120, CAC Mid 60, CAC Mid & Small and CAC All-Tradable.