More and more companies from the paper industry are reacting to the war in Ukraine. UPM has now also announced a delivery stop to Russia, whereas operations at its Russian sites continue.
UPM has announced on 3 March that it will cease its deliveries to Russia for the time being. The company has employees, customers and suppliers in both countries but the company says that its exposure to Russian and Ukranian markets is limited.
"Our primary concern are the people suffering from the war. UPM is providing support to its employees in the affected areas," the Finnish company said.
UPM Raflatac has a distribution terminal in the Kyiv region with 13 employees. The terminal operations have reportedly been closed until further notice. In Russia, UPM says it employs 800 persons most of whom work at the Chudovo plywood mill. "The operations are currently running as usual," UPM reported. The company also operates some distribution terminals in the country.
UPM buys less than 10 per cent of its wood supply in Russia
According to UPM, deliveries to Russia and Ukraine combined accounted for approximately 2 per cent of the company's total deliveries in 2021. Assets in Russia are less than 1 per cent of the group total. UPM also imports wood from Russia into Finland. In 2021, the company says that less than 10 per cent of its wood sourcing to Finland originated from Russia.
Looking forward, UPM thinks that while the forest industry is not directly targeted by the international sanctions at the moment, sanctions against the financial sector may impact the company's or its customers' businesses and transactions in Russia. "The full impact of the current and possible new sanctions and counter-sanctions will be known only as the situation evolves, " the company said, adding that it would monitor the situation closely and make decisions accordingly.
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