Drukarskyi Dim (Printing House) Center for Labor Rehabilitation of the Disabled has started producing paper cups. Currently, this enterprise based in Kramatorsk is the only company in eastern Ukraine manufacturing paper utensils.
With the assistance of USAID Economic Resilience Activity, the Western NIS Enterprise Fund (WNISEF) and Oschadbank issued a loan of 1,300,000 hryvnias to the social enterprise to purchase equipment.
“All paper utensils are now imported to Donetsk Oblast, so we decided to occupy this niche,” said Yurii Melnyk, the company’s director. “A preferential loan allowed us to buy a machine to produce paper tableware. Now we have coffee cups in our product range. Printing equipment allows us to put various prints on paper.”
Drukarskyi Dim makes and sells cups of Finnish and Swedish paper to small shop owners and coffee suppliers in Bakhmut, Druzhkivka, Kramatorsk, Lyman, Pokrovsk and Sviatohirsk. The company is now looking for investments to purchase further equipment to produce a wider range of cups for tea and cocktails, paper plates, cornstarch bags and corrugated cups. Drukarskyi Dim is a socially responsible business, employing 10 people with disabilities out of its 19 staff. The launch of new equipment will help expand the assortment of products and employ additional people.
“Available Loans for Social Enterprises in Eastern Ukraine” project has a value of USD 100,000 and is implemented by WNISEF with the assistance of USAID Economic Resilience Activity.