The manufacturer of building materials Knauf wants to completely withdraw from the Russian market. Earlier, the media suspected the company of supplying products to occupied Mariupol. The company confirmed the information about its plans to leave the Russian market to local media, Tagesschau writes, UNN reports .
"Against the backdrop of current events, the Knauf Group has decided to exit its business in Russia after more than 30 years of operation there," the statement said.
It is noted that the company "wants to transfer all of its business in Russia, including raw material extraction, production and sales, to local management in order to preserve jobs for more than 4,000 employees in the future.
As UNN wrote , Knauf Ukraine finally refused to comment on the situation regarding assistance to the occupiers with construction in Mariupol, citing the order.
As previously reported by Tagesschau, German law enforcement officials have begun to investigate whether German companies have violated sanctions amid reports of supplies to occupied Mariupol. The German government has also warned companies against participating in the reconstruction of the Russian-held city.
Recall
Two German companies, Knauf and WKB Systems, are supplying Russians with construction materials to rebuild occupied Mariupol. The publication says that while searching for evidence of German companies' participation in the restoration of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, which was destroyed during the war and occupied by the Russian armed forces and declared Russian, journalists relied on the websites of construction companies, business documentation, photos and videos.
In particular, many construction sites in Mariupol use cement made by Knauf, they noted.
In addition, in photos and videos of construction sites in Mariupol, ARD journalists noticed concrete blocks in green packaging film bearing the name of the German company WKB Systems from the Munsterland region of North Rhine-Westphalia. Among other things, this company equips concrete block production plants.
The company's main shareholder is Russian businessman Viktor Budarin. "Customs data available to the Monitor show that WKB Systems GmbH has for a number of years supplied entire plants for factories producing such aerated concrete blocks to one of Budarin's Russian companies - apparently the same company whose products Russia is using to consolidate its power in Mariupol," the investigation says .
UNN also noticed that WKB Systems was a participant in the international exhibition REBUILD UKRAINE POWERED BY ENERGY 2023, which took place in Warsaw. A similar exhibition is scheduled for November this year.