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The top priorities are product competitiveness and social responsibility: despite the war and external challenges, Kyiv Cardboard and Paper Mill continues a large-scale investment program. Since 2022 the Austrian owner of KCPM (Pulp Mill Holding GMBH) has invested almost € 15 million in modernization projects for production, and over € 360 million for the entire period. The humanitarian component is also part of the priority.

In 2022, amid new challenges caused by the war in Ukraine, the founding structure of PMH, which owns Kyiv Cardboard and Paper Mill, changed. Dr. Heinz Zinner, an executive with 60 years of experience in the industry, became the owner of the holding. His team managed to stabilize the mill’s operations and resume the investment program.

Dr. Heinz Zinner

“To be competitive on the global market, Ukrainian production needs to replace outdated units with the latest analogues. However, due to logistical issues, these investments are high-risk,” emphasized Dr. Zinner.

€ 14.9 million of investments during the war – a lot or a little?

Despite the military and economic upheaval, 2022 was the most active period in terms of financing the modernization of production facilities located in Obukhivskyi district. At that time, the owner invested about € 9.5 million in equipment upgrades.

At the end of last year, the modernization program 2024 was approved. The current realities are making their own adjustments: as of early August, the equipment at KCPM has been upgraded by € 1.7 million. However, this figure is expected to increase at least 5 times by the end of 2024, as several large-scale projects are planned to be implemented in the nearest months.

Kyiv Cardboard and Paper Mill concentrates on equipment for e-commerce goods, recycling of waste paper, and the environment. One of the biggest innovations was the installation of a folding gluing line from Versor Engineering (Poland) worth € 620 thousand including VAT. This three-year project was successfully completed in 2024. Another important achievement was the purchase of an E-commerce tear-off tape gluing machine, also from Versor Engineering, for € 371 thousand. This year`s implementation of both projects indicates the completion of an important stage in the modernization of KCPM`s production lines.

One of the important environmental initiatives of Kyiv Cardboard and Paper Mill is the installation of equipment for shredding harnesses and metal separation from the German company Weima. The € 860 thousand project started last year and will be completed in 2024.

In addition, this year, cutters were replaced on one of the production lines for roll without a sleeve. The cost of the Italian Maflex equipment reached € 449 thousand. The largest project currently underway is the modernization of the drying part of a paper machine from Toscotec (Italy). The price of the equipment is more than €6.8 million, of which almost € 2.5 million will be paid by the end of the year. The project is scheduled to be completed in 2025.

The choice of investment directions is not accidental, as the trend today is the production of packaging solutions and “green” innovations in the field of recycling, said Dr. Zinner.

Along with equipment modernization, KCPM has another priority investment vector: social programs.

“An enterprise is not just machines, but people first and foremost”: this is the motto under which the company implements humanitarian initiatives that are important not only for Obukhiv but for the whole country. These include support for medical facilities, educational institutions, charitable foundations and the army.

About 250 employees of the mill, that is, almost tenth employee, were mobilized, and the company continues to pay their salaries and provide financial support to the families of the defenders on its own initiative. In total, the owner and management board of KCPM allocated more than UAH 100 million over the past year to fulfill its social obligations.

Based on the material of news.finance.ua

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