Previously known as Krimelte, Wolf Group's website still featured information about its Russian factory last fall, stating that the production unit in Zhukovskiy is one of Russia's leading polyurethane foam manufacturers.

Currently, there is no information on the company's website about operations in Russia. However, the website Krimelte.ru, which bears the Wolf Group logo, remains active. It informs that the group incorporates Europe's leading manufacturer of construction chemicals and materials, Krimelte, with its headquarters in Estonia.

According to the Russian-language website, the factory's main activity is the contract manufacturing of polyurethane foam and sealants under private labels.

It is not possible to verify whether this production unit is still active, as Wolf Group's management does not wish to discuss this topic.

ERR inquired last August and September from company board members Jaanus Paevälja, Peeter Tohver and Jaan Puusaag about how their business in Russia was faring and what future plans they had, but despite repeated reminders, these questions went unanswered.

In early April this year, after it became known that the German plasterboard manufacturer Knauf and WKB Systems GmbH, a manufacturer of equipment for producing concrete blocks, were supplying construction materials for construction work organized by Russian occupation authorities in the Russian-destroyed city of Mariupol, ERR again asked Wolf Group representatives about the status of their Russian production unit and whether they could confirm that Wolf Group's products had not moved to Mariupol, but again, the questions remained unanswered.

Wolf Group's brand manager, Monika Kelle, told ERR that the company's management had received the questions but decided not to respond.

"Not because of the content, but because of how they will start to fly as clickbait," she explained. "We have answers to all the questions you have sent, but our principled decision is that we do not want to comment at all."

The public business register owned by the Russian Federal Tax Service (EGRUL) shows that as of April 12, 2024, Wolf Group East, registered in July 2005, operates in Zhukovskiy and is subject to the Federal Tax Service's interregional inspection number 23 in Moscow Oblast. The company's CEO is Sergei Menshikh.

The latest changes in Wolf Group East's information occurred on March 18 this year, when the legal entity's details were updated in the registry. A similar update was also made on September 21 last year. The registry does not specify what the changes entailed.

Various Russian websites claim that Wolf Group East employs 30 people and had a turnover of two billion rubles, approximately €20 million last year, but it is not possible to verify whether this information is accurate.

Wolf Group OÜ had a turnover of nearly €24 million in the first quarter of this year and employed 195 people.

The group has yet to submit its 2023 report, but in 2022, its turnover was €154 million with a profit of seven million euros. According to that year's report, it halved the production capacity of the Russian production unit due to supply issues, restrictions on payment options for external suppliers and sanctions imposed by the European Union, restructuring the economic activities in Russia and reallocating financial and operational risks to the local business unit level.

Metaprint, whose main client in the Russian market was Krimelte, came under public scrutiny last year due to the involvement of Prime Minister Kaja Kallas' husband, Arvo Hallik, in the company Stark Logistics, which continued business activities related to Russia during the war in Ukraine, and whose majority shareholder was Metaprint's owner Martti Lemendik. Following the scandal, Hallik sold his shares in Stark Logistics back to the company.

Earlier this week, Metaprint's owner Martti Lemendik said he had divested his Russian subsidiary and ceased deliveries to the Russian partner company.

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