German construction firms ‘helping Russia rebuild Ukraine’s occupied city of Mariupol’

AT LEAST two German companies are understood to be involved in Russia’s reconstruction of Mariupol, a project the Kremlin is using to solidify its claim to territory in Ukraine.

Knauf, a Bavarian cement maker, and WKB Systems, a concrete producer from the Rhine region, have both delivered material to construction firms working in the city, according to German broadcaster ARD.

The TV network found photographic evidence that cement sacks bearing Knauf ’s logo were stacked up at building sites in the city, which Russia occupied in May 2022 following a siege.

A construction firm awarded a contract by the Russian defence ministry also advertised the fact that it was using Knauf cement in its PR material. Pressure has been put on German firms to cut business ties with Moscow following the invasion of Ukraine but Knauf still maintains a factory in Russia that employs 4,000 people.

Nikolaus Knauf, the head of the family firm, was an honorary consul for Russia for two decades and has been pictured with Vladimir Putin. The company said in response that it produces cement in Russia “exclusively for the Russian market”.

It added that it condemns Russia’s war against Ukraine and “complies with all EU sanctions against Russia”.

Roderich Kiesewetter, foreign affairs spokesman for Germany’s Christian Democrats, said: “A company like Knauf that continues to do business in Russia is part of the Russia war economy and profits from Russia’s war. Knauf is in the truest sense of the word cementing Russia’s power in occupied territories such as Mariupol.”

The broadcaster has also published photos of concrete blocks wrapped in plastic bearing the logo of WKB Systems, a German firm that belongs to Viktor Budarin, a Russian oligarch.

Customs data shows the company supplied Russia with the components to construct entire concrete production facilities over a period of several years.

According to the campaign group B4ukraine, just eight of the 248 German companies that had subsidiaries in Russia at the start of the war have cut ties with the country. For every $4 (£3.16) in aid that Germany pledges to Ukraine, German companies pay $1 in taxes in Russia, the group states.