Metaprint owner: We have sold off Russian subsidiary firm

Metaprint, which hit controversy last year after media reports that it had been engaging in trade with the Russian Federation well after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, last year doubled its profits and boosted its revenues, business newspaper Delovõje Vedomosti reported.
However, the company's owner, Martti Lemendik, told ETV news show "Aktuaalne kaamera" (AK) that Metaprint has wholly exited from the Russian dimensions of its business.
Lemendik told AK that Metaprint had divested itself of its Russian subsidiary and had ceased supplying a partner company based in Russia, adding: "In terms of euros, this was equivalent to €18.6 million, meaning, the actual sales result was 32 percent lower in comparison with the previous year."
In 2022, Metaprint OOO, the Russian subsidiary firm, reported a revenue of €24.4 million, or 1.68 billion rubles.
2023's figure stood at 1.9 billion rubles (ie. the €18.6 million Lemendik referenced).
The Russian subsidiary on September 22 last year ceased to directly or indirectly belong to Metaprint's parent firm, Lemendik said; however, following this divestment, a major land deal took place, which could affect the financial indicators of the annual report – though these are no longer related to Metaprint's operations in any case, Lemendik went on.
"We have finally managed to draw a line under this topic. Additionally, we have an agreement in place with the new owner that during the current fiscal year, they will also change the company name, since it is no longer associated with us in any way," Lemendik added.
Metaprint made its final export consignment to Russia in February last year – in this case, the raw material, tin plate, was added to the EU sanctions list on Russia at the end of that month.
"We have never sent to Russia any goods that have been sanctioned," the Metaprint owner said.
As for the Russian partner firm, Aeroprom OOO, based in St. Petersburg, Lemendik said deliveries to that company ended in August last year.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs told AK that they do not monitor the business relationships of individual companies.
However, 60 percent of EU trade with Russia is subject to sanctions, the ministry added.
Beyond that, any firm is entitled to continue doing business with Russia in respect of those goods and services that are not under sanction.
Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' sanctions and strategic goods department Kadri Elias-Hindoalla told AK: "Unfortunately, the EU has not yet reached a full trade embargo [with Russia]. This means that a certain proportion of trade with Russia is still permitted."
"So if the product or good in question is not under sanction, then it constitutes legal trade," she went on.
"That said, we can state that doing any business with Russia is morally reprehensible," Elias-Hindoalla continued.
Revelations last August that the spouse of Prime Minister Kaja Kallas held a significant stake in Stark Logistics, Metaprint's partner firm and which transported raw materials via road to Russia, sparked a scandal at a time when Kallas' name had been linked with the NATO secretary general position, soon to be vacated.
Delovõje Vedomosti is a Russian-language business weekly published in Estonia by AS Äripäev, in turn owned by Swedish media group Bonnier.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Marko Tooming.