March 31 (SeeNews) - Croatian manufacturer of plastic products for the automotive industry AD Plastik [ZSE:ADPL-R-A] said it is temporarily closing down its two production plants in Russia to comply with Moscow's recent decision to declare the current week a week off because of the coronavirus spread.
"We hereby inform the investment public that the decision by the President of the Russian Federation, as a measure to combat the spread of the COVID-19 virus, was made on declaring this week as non-working week in the entire country. This decision also applies to all manufacturers in the automotive industry, including our Russian factories, which will not operate during this period," AD Plastik said in a statement with the Zagreb bourse on Monday.
The Croatian company 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 week, AD Plastik announced that its operations have been further affected by the temporary shutdown of car making plants of Bentley and Volkswagen due to the coronavirus crisis.
The company's Hungarian plant is a supplier for Bentley Motors, while the closure of Volkswagen Group's factories in Russia have resulted in reduced orders for AD Plastik's Russian plant in Kaluga.
Prior to this, 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.
The company's shares closed 1.82% lower at 108 kuna ($15.6/14.2 euro) on the Zagreb Stock Exchange on Monday. They did not trade at opening on Tuesday.
Car parts manufacturers were among the first sectors in Southeast Europe to feel the blow of the coronavirus crisis as their supply chains were severely disrputed.
(1 euro = 7.63034 kuna)