UPM is ceasing deliveries to Russia for the time being, in response to the escalating geopolitical situation in Europe and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.
While the forest industry is not directly targeted by the international sanctions at the moment, UPM stated that 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. UPM monitors the situation closely and makes decisions accordingly.’
As such, UPM advised that the organisation’s various businesses, such as Raflatac and Specialty Papers, will keep Russian customers and suppliers informed of the situation.
UPM has employees, customers and suppliers in both countries, although its exposure to Russian and Ukranian markets is noted as ‘limited’. In Russia, UPM employs 800 persons most of whom work at the Chudovo plywood mill. The operations are currently running as usual. UPM Raflatac has a distribution terminal in the Kyiv region with 13 employees. The terminal operations have been closed until further notice.
UPM’s sales to Russia and Ukraine combined was approximately 2% of the company’s total sales in 2021. Assets in Russia are less than 1% of the group total. In 2021, less than 10% of UPM’s wood sourcing to Finland originated from Russia.
In a statement, UPM noted, ‘As a result of Russian aggression against Ukraine, the geopolitical situation in Europe has permanently changed. This has wide-reaching human, political and economic implications in Europe and the situation is evolving rapidly. Our primary concern are the people suffering from the war. UPM is providing support to its employees in the affected areas. We have also started providing humanitarian and material support to Ukraine this week.’
This news follows Stora Enso’s decision to stop all production and sales in Russia until further notice.
