By KYIV. Nov 14 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) has added the Danish company Rockwool, a major global manufacturer of stone wool-based products, to its list of international war sponsors, the agency reported on Monday.
“After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the company made a clear decision to remain in the Russian market. Through intermediaries, the Danish manufacturer continues to supply its construction materials to various state institutions, including the Russian Ministry of Defense,” the NACP said on its website.
According to it, Rockwool products have been used in the construction and repair of ships of the Russian Navy: The Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol, the Baltic Fleet, the Northern Fleet in Murmansk, and the Pacific Fleet.
The NACP stressed that 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 for 31 ships and submarines in the Russian Navy, including cruisers, destroyers, nuclear submarines, frigates, amphibious assault ships, minesweepers and reconnaissance ships.
At least 52 contracts worth more than 329 million rubles between Rockwool distributors and the Russian Ministry of Defense were identified.
Among the customers of Rockwool’s products one can see the following state agencies: the Federal State Unitary Enterprise Center for Financial and Legal Support of the Office of the President of the Russian Federation; the Joint-Stock Company Center for the Operation of Ground-Based Space Infrastructure, which has been under U.S. sanctions since June 2023; the Federal Budgetary Institution Main Center for Administrative and Economic Support of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation; the Federal State Institution Military Unit 52581; and the Joint-Stock Company KrymKhleb.
Rockwool has been operating in Russia since 1995 and owns four plants (Balashikha, Moscow Region; Vyborg, Leningrad Region; Troitsk, Chelyabinsk region; and Alabuga, Republic of Tatarstan). The company employs 1,200 people in Russia, accounting for about 10% of the company’s workforce globally. In April 2022, Rockwool announced the continuation of its work in the Russian Federation.
Rockwool is represented in Russia by 4 legal entities: Rockwool LLC, which in 2022 generated $313 million in revenue, $58.3 million in net profit and paid $13.9 million in profit tax to the Russian budget; Rockwool-Volga LLC, which in 2022 generated $54.2 million in revenue, $8 million in net profit and paid $857,000 in profit tax to the aggressor’s budget; Rockwool-North LLC, which in 2022 made $58.5 million in revenue, $6.8 million in net profit and paid $1.4 million in profit tax to the Russian Federation’s budget; and Rockwool-Ural LLC, which in 2022 $25.7 million in revenue, $1 million in net profit, paying $785,000 in profit tax to the Russian Federation’s budget.
“While these companies did not officially engage in direct deliveries of their products under state Russian contracts, in 2023 such deliveries were carried out by other intermediary enterprises,” the agency said.
According to the NACP, the list of International Sponsors of War on the War and Sanctions portal is a powerful reputational tool for achieving integrity of supply chains in the international dimension, withdrawal of international business from Russia, and thus reducing the financial and technological capacity of the terrorist country to kill Ukrainians.
One of the platform’s “levers of pressure” is cooperation with the World-Check database, which is used by banks and insurance companies to assess risks.
There are currently 46 companies on the list. Recently, the NACP excluded the OTP bank from the list after Hungary made it a requirement to vote in support of Ukraine in the European Union.
