The parent company, which employs 380 workers, said it had posted an operating profit, but did not disclose the figure, only saying it had exceeded plans.

Vipap also told the STA it had invested 2.5 million euro in new technology and emissions management last year.

The company is planning to further improve its financials, including a 5% rise in revenue.

Challenges for the year will however be rising productivity and optimising costs, including energy costs due to rising electricity prices and emission coupons.

Vipap's main markets are Italy, Hungary, Slovenia, Serbia, Croatia, Austria, Germany and Egypt.

Its main products are newsprint, coated graphic papers, and wrapping/packaging papers which the company has developed itself.

Production of packaging papers is planned to increase significantly in the coming years, which implies new investments, the company announced.

Vipap's production is integrated, meaning the company produces the majority of the raw materials it needs, which makes it less exposed to the fluctuation of cellulose prices.

While the parent company has 380 workers, of whom 28 agency workers, the group employs around 490, planning no new hirings at the moment.

Vipap has been in Czech ownership since the mid-1990s. In 2018, it was transferred onto the the Czech Finance Ministry, which has tried to sell it ever since. The latest attempt was mounted in 2016 but has not been completed yet.

The company goes back to 1939, when Slovenian industrial Franc Bonač built a cellulose factory in Videm near the town of Krško, creating 180 jobs.