"Thanks to very good planning, we wrote off various specific materials intended for the St. Petersburg factory valued at under €100,000. However, the retrieval of the outstanding credit portfolio was not as successful, resulting in a final write-off of €4.5 million. Nonetheless, we managed to save over €11 million," stated the company's report for the previous financial year.

The report explained that according to Russian business practices, the company had an extensive credit line open to its clients, which did not allow contracts to be terminated overnight.

"Knowing the behavior patterns of Russian entrepreneurs, we had no illusions that by stopping product deliveries overnight, payments for outstanding invoices would continue according to the deadlines on the invoices. Therefore, we had to approach the problem differently and try to reduce debts smoothly by gradually reducing the amount of product delivered. The most unpleasant part of this solution was that it was time-consuming. Today, it can be summarized that the plan worked very well and would have allowed Metaprint to exit Russia with modest losses, had it not been for the public attention that forced us to adjust the schedule," the report's author wrote.

The company also explained the complexity of leaving the Russian market by noting that Metaprint's factory in Russia had contracts with companies operating in multiple countries, and breaking contracts in Russia would have led to their termination elsewhere. Additionally, Metaprint emphasized that it held a 70 percent market share in Russia's technical aerosol packaging market and that the Estonian-based Metaprint was the sole supplier of raw materials to the Russian subsidiary, thus affecting the local factory as well.

"Without legal pretexts, we were forced to accept the obligations and fulfill the existing contracts," stated the annual report.

According to Metaprint's previous financial year report, the company's sales revenue decreased by 2.22 percent in 2023 compared to 2022, from €99.7 million to €97.5 million. Meanwhile, the company's turnover grew by 17.5 percent in 2022 compared to €82.3 million in 2021.

In 2022, the company's net profit was €15.4 million, and in 2021, it was €12 million.

The company's equity was €96.3 million last year, and its retained earnings as of December 31, 2023, were €96.1 million.

The company paid out €2 million in dividends last year, the same as the previous year.

Metaprint funded activities significant to the community, including supporting youth activities related to music, physical culture and education with €83,000 last year.

Metaprint's main client in the Russian market was the Estonian company Krimelte (now known as Wolf Group). The company came under public scrutiny last year due to Prime Minister Kaja Kallas' husband, Arvo Hallik, being involved with Stark Logistics, which continued business activities related to Russia during the Ukraine war. Stark Logistics' majority shareholder was Metaprint's owner, Martti Lemendik. As a result of the scandal, Hallik sold his Stark Logistics shares back to the company.

At the beginning of April, Metaprint's owner Martti Lemendik stated that he had divested his Russian subsidiary and ceased deliveries to the Russian partner company.

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