Interim management imposed at Rockwool and CanPack Russian subsidiaries
President Vladimir Putin has imposed interim management of the Russian subsidiaries of Danish rock wool insulation manufacturer Rockwool and Polish-American aluminium can supplier CanPack. The decrees (the first and second) were published on 13 January.
Denmark's Rockwool reported that since the start of military operations in Ukraine in 2022 it had kept four Russian production facilities (including a plant in Balashikha near Moscow) "in passive ownership" without support from its Danish headquarters. Since then, 400 million Danish kroner ($62 million) has been withdrawn from Rockwool's Russian business, the Danish company said. "Rockwool is considering its next steps . . . and will take all necessary legal action to prevent illegal seizure," Rockwool said in a press release.
CanPack was founded in Poland and is now owned by the American company Giorgi Global Holdings. It operates two enterprises in Russia, in the Moscow and Rostov regions. CanPack's share of the Russian market is estimated at almost 30%, according to Kommersant, citing the Aluminium Association.
The interim managers of shares in the Russian companies of Rockwool and CanPack — Razvitie Stroitelnykh Aktivov (Moscow; no information available about its managers and founders) and StalElement (Krasnodar Krai; founder Irina Samylina) — have not been widely known until now, Kommersant notes.
In the case of interim management, the property rights of foreign shareholders are formally retained, but corporate rights are temporarily transferred to the appointed manager. In a number of cases, interim management has been cancelled so that a foreign parent can sell its Russian subsidiary (Carlsberg, Danone) or return to operate in Russia (as in the case of the Italian company Ariston).
The value of Rockwool's Russian business is put at RUB 50-60 billion, and CanPack's at RUB 30 billion, Kommersant says, citing investment banker Ilya Shumov.
Related news
20.01.26