Japanese-owned coatings manufacturer Kansai Helios will phase out manufacturing at the historic Chromos facility in Zagreb, relocating production to plants in Gornji Milanovac, Serbia, and Količevo, Slovenia as part of a multi-year regional restructuring.
The transition will consolidate manufacturing across the group while preserving a commercial presence in Zagreb. Kansai Helios said the Croatian site will continue to support sales and distribution, with product availability and existing quality standards maintained throughout the production transfer.
Production roles to shift across the region
Under the restructuring, the Količevo facility in Slovenia will take on a central role in technical expertise and product development. The plant in Gornji Milanovac, Serbia, will assume a larger manufacturing function and provide a scalable production base for the group’s regional operations.
The transfer will be implemented over several years as Kansai Helios reorganises its regional manufacturing footprint. The company has not provided further details on the scale of production to be moved from Zagreb or the investment associated with the restructuring. The changes will end manufacturing at a site with more than a century of industrial history. Chromos was founded in 1920 and developed into Yugoslavia’s largest producer of paints, varnishes, resins and plastics.
Zagreb site marks end of century-long manufacturing history
At its peak in the mid-1980s, Chromos employed about 4,500 people. Its Zagreb operations became part of a wider industrial network producing coatings and chemical products for the Yugoslav market. The planned production transfer will therefore separate Chromos’s remaining commercial activities in Zagreb from its manufacturing operations, while expanding the production roles of Kansai Helios facilities in Serbia and Slovenia.
