Greiner Packaging International (GPI, Kremsmünster / Austria; www.greiner-gpi.com) announced that it will establish a jv with the Russian plastics packaging manufacturer Plastic System (Noginsk / Russia; www.souzpromplast.ru), which serves the market under the Souzpromplast brand.

The jv, located 40 km east of Moscow in Noginsk, is being established under the name Greiner Packaging System, with GPI holding the majority of the shares. The company has been represented in the Russian market with its site in Vladimir since 2005, where its key technologies are thermoforming in conjunction with the "K3" cardboard-plastic-combination packaging. In 2015, GPI expanded in Turkey with its acquisition of two companies (see Plasteurope.com of 22.06.2015) and it also established a jv in India in 2016 called Greiner Packaging India (New Delhi; see Plasteurope.com of 04.08.2016). Axel Kühner, chairman of the Greiner Group (Kremsmünster; www.greiner.at), says that the company's goal is to grow outside of Europe to better serve international customers.

In fiscal year 2016, the group increased its sales by 2.4% compared to the previous year to just under EUR 1.5 bn. The number of employees rose by 423 to 9,722 at 134 locations worldwide. Europe remains as the plastics processing group's core market, accounting for approximately 75% of sales, followed by North America and Asia, each with around 10%. The company invested a total of EUR 101m in the global expansion of its sites as well as in machinery and equipment renewal.