Ukrainian governmental and municipal agencies are massively purchasing Knauf products to help Russia rebuild Mariupol

After Western journalists found out that two German companies, Knauf and WKB Systems, supply Russians with construction materials to rebuild occupied Mariupol, UNN decided to ask how these companies feel about Ukraine in general.

Knauf Ukraine

Knauf sells tiles, cement slabs, solutions for ceilings, sound insulation, plaster mixes, etc. in Ukraine. The website of the German company's representative office in Ukraine lists  two companies: Knauf Gypsum Kyiv LLC and Knauf Gypsum Donbas LLC. The latter is registered in Soledar, which was occupied after the start of the full-scale invasion.

Knauf Gypsum Kyiv LLC is registered in Kyiv at Garmatna Street. Several other companies are registered at the same address, including Knauf Insulation Ukraine LLC, Knauf Gypsum Fastiv LLC, Knauf Service Ukraine LLC, Knauf Marketing, and Knauf Marketing Products.

"Knauf Gypsum Kyiv  has branches in Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Odesa, Kharkiv and Dnipro.

It is worth noting that, according to open data, Knauf Gypsum Kyiv participated in public procurement only once - in 2018. The amount of the contact was UAH 163 383. These funds were used to purchase a machine plastering service for one of the departments of the Ivano-Frankivsk RSA.

However, this does not prevent the German company from actively supplying its products to Ukrainian utilities and government agencies. In the Prozorro system, we found a total of more than 7,000 tenders in which Ukrainian organizations ordered Knauf products. 6671 of these tenders have the status of "completed". Among the customers are military units, utilities, local councils, and educational institutions. The purchase amounts are usually 2-10 thousand hryvnias. There are, of course, larger ones, for example, a military unit from Lviv region purchased moisture-resistant drywall worth over UAH 200 thousand.