Subsidiaries

In the second half of the 1990s, the Company embarked on expansion in other countries, and over the years since then has become a major force in the Central-Eastern European region.  Today, the Group has five major corrugated product plants outside Hungary, ensuring that our products and services are available in close geographical proximity to all customers in these countries.

Dunapack in Romania

In 1997, a $15 million greenfield investment in Sepsiszentgyörgy (Sfinte Gheorghe) in Transylvania resulted in a new corrugated product factory capable of serving a substantial part of the needs of the Romanian market, in terms of both quality and quantity. Owing in large part to the transfer of the parent company’s expertise and quality approach, Dunapack Rambox became the leading company on the Romanian corrugated products market in less than a year. It has created some 200 new jobs, and made a major contribution to the industry of the area.  The experience gained by Dunapack staff in carrying out this first foreign project has proved very useful in further acquisitions. The Romanian subsidiary now operates under ISO 9002 and 14001 standards and makes and processes 60 million square metres of corrugated product annually. It has sales offices in Kolozsvár (Cluj-Napoca), Bacãu, Brãila and Chisinãu in Moldavia.

Dunapack in the Ukraine and Poland

In July 1998, representatives of Zsidacsevi CBK Rt. and Dunapack Rt. signed the deed of foundation on the incorporation and business activities of Dunapack-Ukrajna Kft.  Refurbishing and expanding the existing production plant and rearranging its surroundings took until April 1999, and in September Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma appended his autograph on one of the first paper sacks to come off the production line.  The sack factory mainly produces valve sacks for the cement industry, but other industries are also represented among its customers. Owing to increasing demands on quality and quantity, sack production in the Ukraine was supplemented by manufacturing of corrugated products in 2001. In parallel with increases in production, we have expanded services, similarly to developments in Hungary.

Our Polish corrugated product operation, the Eurobox Polska plant near Ujazd, was built in 2000, also as a greenfield development. It now has an annual production capacity of 120 million m² of corrugated product.  Staff from both the Hungarian and Austrian companies were involved in implementing the project.  A year later, the Polish subsidiary was further expanded by purchase of the board processing company EkoPakIr. In 2003, Eurobox set up a new board making machine, which further boosted capacity.

Dunapack in Bulgaria and Croatia

In September 2002, Dunapack Ltd.. acquired 98% of the shares of Rodinvest AD, based in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, the proprietor of Rodina AD. It thus set up a new Dunapack subsidiary by acquiring a controlling majority in an existing manufacturing operation rather than via a greenfield investment. After purchasing the shares, we engaged in capital projects worth €16 million in the Bulgarian company, thus making considerable improvements in both its capacity and the quality of its products. Now the company also exports to the neighbouring countries and is constantly developing its system of services.

In January 2002, before setting up a production subsidiary, Dunapack embarked on active marketing activity. The result – an increase in sales volume by a factor of nearly six – provided the basis for a €23 million greenfield investment which started in 2003.  Valoviti Papir Dunapack Kft. started up production in the same year in the town of Zabok near Zagreb. Employing some 130 workers, the plant is also producing for customers in south Hungary and the former Yugoslavian states.