Valmet to lay off 50% of its employees in Russia as part of its plan to leave the country. Company has a total of approximately 140 employees in Russia, working primarily in sales, engineering, maintenance and financial administration. Valmet does not have production in Russia.
In spring, Valmet decided not to make any new sales projects in Russia. In addition, it canceled EUR 70 million of its order backlog on March 31, 2022. Valmet will withdraw from Russia completely and will continue to implement the withdrawal in stages as the review of implementation options is fully completed.
During the Q1 2022 analyst conference, Pasi Laine, President and CEO of Valmet, said: 'We are all very upset about the war in Ukraine, and we have been supporting our employees and partners in the crisis area in every possible way. We are, of course, making sure we comply with all the sanctions and export regulations which are impacting either the products, of course, country, product, customer and financing. We are very careful that we comply with all the rules. In practice, this means that it is very difficult to do any business any more in Russia'.
Approximately 2% of Valmet's total net sales came from its Russian operations in 2021. In Russia, company supplied production equipment and services to Segezha, Volga, Mondi Syktyvkar, Arkhbum Tissue Group, Arkhangelsky pulp and paper mill, Hayat Kimya, Consolidated paper mills.
