Swiss company to cut 400 jobs in Ukraine as war's toll continues

Without the site operating, the company said it was not able to keep up payments to employees. "Financing these jobs is directly related to the production and sale of glass packaging.

Swiss packaging group Vetropack on Wednesday said it would cut roughly 400 jobs in Ukraine following severe war damage to its Hostomel plant, a sign of the widening economic toll of the fighting in Ukraine. The manufacturer of glass packaging, which has employed roughly 600 at the plant, northwest of Kyiv, said it had continued to pay full salaries of its people there since Russia's invasion of Ukraine while releasing them from work duties.

But now, with damage from military activity rendering the plant inoperable for the near future and hostilities continuing in the region, the company said it would need to let go of roughly two-thirds of the workforce. "We are aware of the impact this step will have on our employees in Ukraine – but we see no alternative at the moment," Chief Executive Johann Reiter said in a statement. "In our estimation, it will not be possible to immediately resume our production in (Hostomel) - even if the war ends, which is currently not foreseeable."

Around 4.8 million jobs have been lost in Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion, accounting for around 30% of Ukraine's workforce, the International Labour Organization said last week, as the conflict shut down businesses, strangled exports, and drove millions to flee. Russian forces seized Hostel, which is close to an airfield, soon after invading Ukraine on Feb. 24.

Vetropack said it had no plans to permanently close its site and hoped to reopen it following repair. But in the medium term, it could perform only clean up and "protection and preservation of assets". Without the site operating, the company said it was not able to keep up with payments to employees.

"Financing these jobs is directly related to the production and sale of glass packaging. Therefore, without production, we cannot sustain it," Reiter said. The company said it would look for possible solutions for the affected employees over the coming weeks, noting however that most, as men of military conscription age, were not able to leave Ukraine.

Some 35 employees had so far been relocated abroad, Vetropack said. Some of those were working at other company sites.

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