With the acquisition of a flexible packaging plant in Kralice na Han, Czech Republic, Amcor (Hawthorn, Australia; www.amcor.com) is expanding its presence in Central Europe.

The Australians have acquired the plant near Prostejov from Russian packaging manufacturer Danaflex (Kazan; www.danaflex.ru), which commissioned the facility under the name DGPack in 2019 (see Plasteurope.com of 18.04.2019). Financial details were not disclosed.

DGPack makes laminated plastic pouches, primarily for baby food, pet food, and coffee, and the plant also has flexographic and gravure presses and an R&D centre for sustainable packaging solutions. The acquired land and buildings are expected to offer Amcor the opportunity to expand operations and build a more modern production centre.

Michael Zacka, president of Amcor Flexibles Europe, Middle East & Africa, said the “scalability of the acquired site and its attractive location” will help to meet the growing demand for flexible packaging solutions in the region.

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Danaflex has two Russian film and flexible packaging production sites for the food and hygiene sectors. Both are situated in the Republic of Tatarstan – one at company headquarters in Kazan and the other in the Alabuga special economic zone with the designed production performance of 46,000 t/y and 22,000 t/y, respectively.

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Airat Bashirov, president of Danaflex, told Russian press that selling the Czech plant was a forced move as the company started experiencing problems with money transfers to its European subsidiary, as well as facing difficulties in obtaining Schengen visas for its employees due to Western sanctions against Russia.

“But the main challenge for us was the stability of our clients. These are serious multinational companies with which we work both in Russia and abroad. In order not to let them down, since these risks are beyond our influence, in March, we decided to sell the asset,” Bashirov said. To support its export division, Danaflex intends to open a new production site in Turkey by the end of 2022, Bashirov said. He did not provide further details.