The German companies Knauf and WKB Systems GmbH are involved in the Russian so-called "reconstruction" of the destroyed Mariupol.
Knauf and WKB Systems GmbH are helping Russia to "rebuild" occupied Mariupol
Journalists of the German magazine ARD Monitor found that in annual reports, on company websites, in photos and videos, there is proof and evidence that the German companies Knauf and WKB Systems GmbH played an essential role in the "reconstruction" of Mariupol.
The German company Knauf is a world leader in the production of plaster. It has been doing business in Russia for a long time.
Company co-owner Nikolaus Knauf was the honorary consul of Russia for more than 20 years, retaining this position even after the occupation of Crimea. In 2018, he called the sanctions against the Russian Federation "terrible".
The Knauf company says that 4,000 people continue to work in the Russian Federation, and sales reach billions.
In a comment to journalists, the company condemned Russian aggression against Ukraine and stated that it complies with all EU sanctions against the Russian Federation. In the Russian Federation, production continues "exclusively for the Russian market."
However, according to experts, this does not mean the Russian business has nothing to do with the parent German company. Sanctions law expert Viktor Winkler says:
The fact that if I have a subsidiary in Russia only on Russian territory, that it has nothing to do with sanctions, so to speak, is an absolute myth and could not be further from reality.
He added that the fact that sanctions do not apply to construction materials means that companies should be able to "effectively rule out having a military connection, any military connection to what they supply."
Journalists note that the official Knauf dealer publicly advertises that it has built a residential building from Knauf building materials on the order of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. The ARD editorial office has photos of this construction with Knauf bags.
Together with Knauf, according to ARD, concrete blocks in green packaging film with the German company WKB Systems GmbH logo are visible on numerous construction sites. The company equips, including plants, for the production of concrete blocks.
The main shareholder of the company is the Russian oligarch Viktor Budarin. Budarin used his German company as a supplier for Russia's construction industry. It has not come under EU sanctions in recent years.
