UK-based Linpac Packaging is building a new plant in Belarus to supply EPS packaging to Russia and other surrounding markets.

Barbara Laing, European communications manager at Linpac, says the company chose to build a new plant to target Russia because it is one of the world’s fastest growing economies.

“The location of our existing manufacturing facilities, the nearest one being in Poland, has meant that we have not been able to compete on price in this market,” she told European Plastics News. “Our new Belarus site will open doors to Russia, the Ukraine and potentially some of the Baltic nations too.”

The plant will produce EPS trays for meat, fish and poultry packaging and will give manufacturers in eastern Europe access to the same standards of packaging offered in the west of the region, says Linpac.

The company did not reveal how much it is investing in the new plant but says it will create up to 80 jobs. The factory is expected to open by the end of this year.

Eastern Europe is an increasingly important market for Linpac, which already has a manufacturing site in Brzeg Dohny, Poland, to serve Hungary, Romania, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Slovakia and Croatia. It also has a plant on the German/Polish border.