Ukraine designates Rockwool as international war sponsor
The National Agency for Corruption Prevention included Denmark’s Rockwool in the list of international sponsors of war. Its products were used during the construction and repair of warships for the Russian Navy.
This was reported by the NACP press service, according to Ukrinform.
"The leading Danish manufacturer of products based on stone wool is included in the list of international sponsors of war. After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the company fundamentally decided to stay on the Russian market. Through intermediaries, the company's products are sold to Russian state-owned enterprises, in particular by order of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation," the statement reads.
The company's products are used for insulation, sound insulation, and fire protection, intended for all types of buildings and structures, as well as for industrial equipment and even shipbuilding.
As noted by the NACP, Rockwool products were used during the construction and repair of ships for the Russian Navy: the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol, the Baltic Fleet, the Northern Fleet in Murmansk, as well as the Pacific Fleet.
Information on such contracts is available from 2014 to 2021. In the years since the annexation of Crimea, Rockwool has supplied insulation materials to at least 31 ships and submarines operated by the Russian Navy, including cruisers, destroyers, nuclear submarines, frigates, landing ships, minesweepers, and reconnaissance vessels.
At least 52 contracts worth more than RUB 329 million were revealed between Rockwool distributors and the Russian Ministry of Defense.
Rockwool has been operating in the Russian Federation since 1995 and owns four plants (in the city of Balashikha, Moscow region; Vyborg, Leningrad region; Troitsk, Chelyabinsk region; and the Alabuga Special Economic Zone, Republic of Tatarstan).
The company maintains 1,200 jobs in the Russian Federation, which is about 10% of the company's employees.
In Russia, Rockwool is represented by four companies:
Rockwool LLC, which in 2022 posted $313 million in revenue, $58.3 million dollars net profit, and paid income tax in the amount of $13.9 million to the Russian budget;
LLC Rockwool-Volga, which in 2022 saw revenue in the amount of $54.2 million, net profit of $8 million, and paid $857,000 in income tax to the aggressor;
LLC Rockwool-Sever in 2022 received revenue in the amount of $58.5 million, net profit of $6.8 million, and paid income tax in the amount of $1.4 million to the Russian budget;
LLC Rockwool-Ural, which in 2022 received revenue in the amount of $25.7 million, net profit in the amount of $1 million, and paid income tax in the amount of $785 thousand to the budget of the Russian Federation.
Although these companies officially do not directly supply their own products under Russian government contracts, in 2023 their supplies flew via other intermediary companies.
Among the consumers of Rockwool products, there is the Center for Financial and Legal Support of the Russian President’s Office; JSC Center for Exploitation of Ground-based Space Infrastructure Objects, which has designated by the U.S. Treasury in June 2023; Main Center for Administrative and Economic Support of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation; Military unit 52581; and JSC KrymHleb.
In April 2022, Rockwool said they would continue doing business in Russia.
As Ukrinform reported earlier, the NACP put on the list of international sponsors of war the Italian group of companies Camozzi - one of the world leaders in the production of pneumatic equipment, pneumatic systems, and pneumatic automation.
Photo: NACP