Trelleborg exited manufacturing in Russia in February

Trelleborg Group cancelled plans to invest in new manufacturing facilities in Russia following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at the end of February. Back in October 2021 Trelleborg had announced plans to invest roughly 30 million euros in manufacturing operations in Russia, Vietnam, Japan and Morocco. The Russia project was set to focus on sealing solutions.

Trelleborg clarified its position in relation to Russia in response to media reports suggesting the group has “manufacturing sites and sales in Russia”. The company didn’t specify the source of those reports, but Yale School of Management’s ranking of international business responses to the war in Ukraine and sanctions against Russia still rated Trelleborg Group as “F” on its scale. The list, which was updated the same day as Trelleborg’s clarification statement, defines F as “defying demands for exit or reduction of activities”. That puts Trelleborg – according to Yale School of Management – in a group of 194 companies in similar circumstances.

However, Trelleborg contradicted Yale’s assessment: “Trelleborg does not have any manufacturing sites in Russia or in Belarus. The previous plan of establishing a manufacturing facility in Russia was halted more than a month ago. The Group is following all sanctions implemented and has neither any deliveries or sales to Russia or Belarus…”, Trellleborg official clarified in a statement published on 8 April 2022.

Trelleborg representatives also highlighted that the company “pointed out the inaccuracies to the original source” earlier that week. And therefore, it is likely that either there were sources drawing similar conclusions in addition to Yale or Yale was the original source and has refused to change its rating.