The two Russian plants of Croatian car parts maker AD Plastik have restarted production to meet the needs of its Russian client AvtoVAZ, the company said on Wednesday, according to SeeBiz.
Earlier this month, AD Plastik, which produces plastic components for the automotive industry, announced that its Russian plants will remain closed by the end of this month in compliance with the authorities’ decision to extend a non-working period until the end of April because of the coronavirus spread.
“We hereby inform the investment public that as of yesterday, our customer AvtoVAZ in Russia continued with business operations. Although April has been declared a non-working month in the Russian Federation, they and their suppliers are allowed to operate as a producer of special national importance,” AD Plastik said in a statement on Tuesday.
“AvtoVAZ is adjusting its capacities and for the start it will be working with fifty percent of its capacities. Accordingly, our factories in Russia have restarted their production adapted to the requirements of the aforementioned customer,” the Croatian company said.
AD Plastik has eight production plants in five countries – three in Croatia, two in Russia, and one each in Hungary, Serbia and Romania, employing some 2,900 workers in total.
Last month, the company said its operations had been affected by the temporary shutdown of car making plants of Bentley and Volkswagen due to the coronavirus crisis.
AD Plastik’s Hungarian plant is a supplier for Bentley Motors, while the closure of Volkswagen Group’s factories in Russia had resulted in reduced orders for AD Plastik’s Russian plant in Kaluga.
Earlier in March, AD Plastik said it was suspending most of its operations in Croatia, Serbia and Hungary as its global customers halted production due to the coronavirus pandemic.
