UniCredit Bank (Serbia)

The use of disposable plastic cups for beverages, or in the dairy industry as a form of packaging products such as yoghurt has picked up swiftly over the past couple of years. No doubt we all know what these look like, but have you ever asked yourself where they come from. DIVI, a family business that has grown to become Serbia’s leading plastic production and packaging company, is a secure bet in terms of the source. Established in 1991, DIVI operates on a production site of around 4 000 square meters, employs nearly 60 people and exports to the majority of EU countries as well as its Balkan neighbours. Drinking cups for single use – such as at vending machines or water fountains, as well as plastic packaging for food, including ice-cream boxes, represent the more simple range of products and were the initial focus of DIVI’s production strategy. However, as demand on the market diversified into higher segments, DIVI started offering thermoforming cups that are now widely taken up by the milk produce sector. The range of cups sold by DIVI encompasses 23 different sizes and quality to best suit each customer’s individual needs. Designing the cups is also possible with special machines that can manage printing jobs combining eight different colours at the same time.

Most recently, the company also started investing in a new product line that is composed of plastic products with a so-called shrink sleeve. This additional handle serves as an extra protection and is able to carry advertisement, thus being an interesting new feature offered to DIVI’s customers. Remember the last time you held a hot coffee cup with an extra grip? That is exactly it. To finance this expansion and increase DIVI’s exports on top of meeting the local demand, UniCredit Bank Serbia JSC provided the company with an EU-guaranteed loan under the guarantee instrument of the Western Balkans Entreprise Development and Innovation Facility (WB EDIF). “Our recent expansion is an important milestone. By increasing the production capacity, we wanted to ensure long-term competitiveness that will help us create employment opportunities and contribute to the overall economic development of our region”, said Milanko Jovanović, General Manager of DIVI d.o.o.

Company: DIVI Plastic (Serbia)

Type of business: Plastic disposable cups and packaging

EU-supported guarantee:  WB EDIF

For further information about EIF intermediaries in Serbia, please refer to:
http://www.eif.org/what_we_do/where/rs