GEW has supplied an LED and conventional UV system for a B1 Komori free of charge to a printer in Ukraine.
Pryvatna Drukarnya had been considering investment in UV at its plant in Khmelnytskyi, western Ukraine, as the war broke out. Its priority became humanitarian aid to fellow citizens and the plant’s two restaurants and gymnasium were turned to producing 1,200 meals a day for refugees and accommodation each night for 500. This lasted for the first month of the conflict.
As the initial pressure eased Mikhail Gluhovski realised that the company should restart operations, particularly as a number of companies had ceased trading.
He negotiated with board suppliers and for other consumables needed by the carton printer and he rekindled plans for investment in UV. Gluhovski contacted GEW on this basis, hoping to secure favourable repayment terms to mitigate the risk at a time of great uncertainty.
Instead GEW sales director Robert Rae and company founder Malcolm Rae, offered a system free of charge to recognise the efforts the business had been making. Not surprising the offer was accepted.
Gluhovski says: “Everyone in our region opened their doors for those who have no home any more. At one time I had 13 people from Kharkiv, with two pets, living in my apartment.
“Of course, business is very difficult, but we are sure about our future: we’ve never been so consolidated and so strong before. Thanks to the goodwill of our European partners, we found an appropriate way to buy cardboard and consumables for new orders and to pay off debts at the same time.”
The 15-year-old print business has a broad range of sectors from books to packaging, advertising material to calendars and labels with both offset and digital presses.
Normally GEW engineers would visit the press to take accurate measurements for its engineering teams, but this was not possible at the time. Acting under video instruction, the customer took the measurements to enable the system to be built in Crawley.
The system that GEW has supplied has a double UV lamp system in the delivery and two LeoLed cassette in interdeck positions on the press. The Rhino power cabinets have been supplied in the colours of the Ukrainian flag to mark the installation.
Video communications were again employed for the installation and subsequent training of staff and for any post installation work that may be needed.
Pryvatna has also sponsored a family whom had been bombed out of their home in the Donetsk region and have now found a home in Khmelnytskyi.
Robert Rae says: “All of us here at GEW were touched by the obvious generosity and dedication of the team at Pryvatna. It seemed a natural act that we should provide this system to them free of charge, to go some way to contribute and recognise their courageous efforts in the face of such adversity. It was also a pleasure to be able to help colleagues in our industry directly, rather than through an anonymous aid donation.”
To which Gluhovski responds: “We are thankful to GEW and everyone who supports our country and our economy. This will let us to return our normal production volume and to start producing UV printed packaging.”
