Prinovis GmbH & Co. KG at the Dresden location has been in the red for some time now, despite intensive efforts by all parties involved. Against this background, the management plans to take the necessary steps to discontinue the company's business operations by 31 December 2022. The management personally informed the works council and the 470 employees in Dresden of its entrepreneurial decision at a staff meeting today.
The background to the planned closure is the fact that the European gravure printing market has been in structural decline for more than a decade. "The decision to close the printing operation in Dresden at the end of next year has been very difficult for us," says Niklas Darijtschuk, managing director of Prinovis, "but it is unavoidable due to the current and forecast economic situation at the site. The negative market development has been particularly noticeable in recent years in the demand for print products in the classic gravure segment for high-volume catalogues as well as magazines and supplements, which has fallen disproportionately." According to the manager, in the period from 2010 to 2020, demand for classic gravure papers, for example, has fallen by far more than half. Darijtschuk continues: "The serious imbalance between supply and demand has led to massive overcapacities. Unfortunately, there is no sign of an improvement in the market situation."
At the staff meeting, the management also announced that it would immediately enter into negotiations with the employee representatives in order to agree on a reconciliation of interests in a timely manner on the basis of the existing provisional social plan. The management's declared goal is to find socially acceptable solutions and to give the employees affected certainty about the framework conditions and the further course of events as quickly as possible. Dirk Kemmerer, CEO of the Bertelsmann Printing Group, said: "We are aware of our responsibility for the workforce in Dresden and will stand by the obligations that arise from the existing social plan.
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