UPM to cease deliveries to Russia

‘As a result of Russian aggression against Ukraine, the geopolitical situation in Europe has permanently changed,’ said the company in a statement. ‘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.’

While the international sanctions do not directly target the forest industry at the moment, sanctions against the financial sector may impact UPM’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.

UPM has employees, customers and suppliers in both countries, but UPM’s exposure to Russian and Ukrainian markets is limited. UPM Raflatac has a distribution terminal in the Kyiv region with 13 employees. The terminal operations have been closed until further notice. 

In Russia, UPM employs 800 persons, most of whom work at the Chudovo plywood mill. The operations are currently running as usual. UPM’s sales to Russia and Ukraine combined were approximately 2 percent of UPM’s total sales in 2021. Assets in Russia are less than 1 percent of the group total. In 2021, less than 10 percent of UPM’s wood sourcing to Finland originated from Russia.