Rivne Flex is included in the Forbes NEXT 250 2.0 list

Forbes Ukraine has recently published the second list of 250 small and medium-sized companies that will determine the country's development for years to come. Rivne Flex is among them. The Forbes team has selected the most promising of more than 700 Ukrainian companies. The selection was based not only on financial performance, but also on product innovation, scaling potential, non-standard management and marketing solutions, and expansion.

A journey of 17 years

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"It has been a long journey of 17 years. For almost a century, we have not just been creating packaging on a daily basis, but have always asked ourselves how we can automate, optimize, and make the product environmentally friendly. We have set ourselves a mission to help our customers grow, enter European markets with strict environmental requirements, and convey brand value through high-quality and beautiful packaging," says Mykola Livshuk, CEO of Rivne Flex.

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The company started with one offset printing machine and a team of three people. Today, Rivne Flex has 55 employees and is trusted by 200 companies from all over Ukraine, including Zhytomyrski Lasoshchy, Kviten (one of the ATB factories), Yarych, TOM, and others. The company produces both roll packaging, which is further used on the packaging lines of enterprises, and ready-made packages of various form factors for a wide range of products.

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"Themain approach to our work is flexibility. Oddly enough, when we create flexible packaging, we also try to be "flexible". Reorienting to European markets, starting work on February 28, 2022, printing packaging without design at the beginning of a major war, investing in experimental projects - these are the things that helped and help us to remain resilient and scale despite the war," recalls Bohdan Livshuk, Rivne Flex's COO. 

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Compared to 2019, Rivne Flex's production capacity has doubled, and it was able to increase production by 1.5 times in the face of a full-scale invasion. 

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Waste can be profitable, and the sun can "work"

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In 2020, the company began to process its production waste on its own, which accounts for 10% of its sales, and half of which is recyclable. We invested in polymer processing equipment, experimented for 2 years, and now Rivne Flex makes buckets, furniture fittings, scissor handles, etc. from waste. At first, we didn't think about the return on investment at all, we were more motivated by the fact that the warehouses would not be clogged with waste and we wouldn't have to pay for it. Later, they realized that it was an attractive business, and there was a queue for their waste. In the future, they plan to improve this area. 

As for the waste that cannot be recycled, Rivne Flex takes it to Brovary, where it is utilized using European technology, and pays for this service. This production provides hot water to 80% of Brovary residents.  

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Rivne Flex made not only waste work, but also the sun. In the summer of 2023, 0.1 hectares of solar panels were installed, thanks to which 20% of the packaging is generated from solar energy. In addition, the company exports 15% to the general grid. Next year, Rivne Flex plans to double its investments and solar power capacity. 

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"This journey and this award would not have been possible without the unity of our partners, the loyalty of our clients, and the cohesion and resilience of our team, particularly in times of full-scale invasion," adds Mykola Livshuk.  

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What's next? 

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Scaling up and plans to double production volumes again. An equally important area for Rivne Flex is to improve its corporate social responsibility initiatives, move towards completely waste-free production and find ways to make packaging more and more environmentally friendly.