German companies involved in Russian ‘reconstruction’ of occupied Mariupol

https://kyivindependent.com/media-german-companies-help-russia-to/

by YYY_333

16 comments

  1. Cherry-picked and auto-translated from the source – [https://www.tagesschau.de/investigativ/monitor/ukraine-mariupol-wiederaufbau-russland-100.html](https://www.tagesschau.de/investigativ/monitor/ukraine-mariupol-wiederaufbau-russland-100.html)

    >Reporters from the ARD political magazine Monitor set out to search for clues. In annual reports, on company websites, in pictures and in videos – there is evidence and evidence everywhere that German companies are also playing an important role in the reconstruction of Mariupol. There are heavy machines or windows on which the logos of several German manufacturers can be found. And again and again on plaster bags: the name Knauf. The German family business from the Franconian province is a world leader in plaster production. Also because it has been doing important business in Russia for a long time. Company patriarch Nikolaus Knauf was Russian honorary consul for more than two decades; in photos he smiles next to President Putin. He retained this post even after the annexation of Crimea, and in 2018 he described the subsequent sanctions against Russia as “terrible”. Knauf says it continues to employ 4,000 people in Russia and has billions in sales there.

    >In a general statement on Russia business, Knauf writes to Monitor that it condemns the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and follows all EU sanctions against Russia. They produce in Russia “exclusively for the Russian market”. However, Knauf left an extensive list of questions from the editorial team unanswered. So does the Russian business have nothing to do with the German parent company? Sanctions law expert Viktor Winkler disagrees: “The idea that if I have a subsidiary in Russia only in the Russian area, only on the Russian territories, that this is, so to speak, irrelevant to sanctions, that is an absolute myth and couldn’t be further away the reality.”

  2. Private companies whoring themselves out? Who could’ve forseen this

  4. Rebuilding of Mariupol is good thing even if you don’t like Russia.

  5. Assholes, and they are using the usual excuse “we are strictly following the wording of the sanctions”, yes, and thus completely ignoring the spirit in the name of profit.

  8. Morally objectable, but I don’t really follow the argument that this falls under sanctions. If anything that helps the Russian war effort is sanctionable each and every one of the hundreds of European companies still dealing in non-sanctioned goods and services with Russia would be in violation of those because all trade aids the Russian war effort. Any of those goods could and probably do end up with the Russian forces through resellers. Either the EU implements full sanctions or they will have to tolerate things like this.

  9. Seems like their Russian factories need some of those Ukrainian “sanctions” that Russian oil refiners have been receiving lately.

  10. What can I say? War is war and business is business. And drywall ain’t even the top of the iceberg. You can purchase a brand-new BMW, Mercedes, or Audi in any Russian city these days. Heck, even the infotainment system will be in Russia. What’s more is that they are shipped directly to Russia from Germany, albeit the paperwork is drawn up to make it seem that the car transited through Russia on the way to Kyrgyzstan, where it was bought by a third party , who sold it to another third party, who then “shipped” it to Russia.

    On one hand, you can complain about this. But on the other hand, it isn’t like they Knauf, BMW, Mercedes (except for maybe the G-wagen – but that would still be overkill), and Audi, have absolutely no military purpose, being 100% civilian products. On top of that, if the Europeans wouldn’t sell to the Russians, the Chinese would. And sure, business has no morals. I get that. But you can’t deny that this profit is providing jobs for people in Germany. BTW, this is the same reason the U.S. is still importing Russian oil. The gulf refineries can only process that type of oil, and apart from employing thousands of Americans, they are the economic drivers in those areas. Cut business with Russia – you might stick around t to Russia for some time. But you will have tens of thousands of angry, unemployed people at home. Not good for any reelection prospects.

    Welcome to the real world.

  12. So you aren’t surprised that Europe bought record volumes of gas from Russia this year? How fo you think Putin is going to spend this money?

    If Knauf Russia wouldn’t play by Putin’s playbook it will be nationalised if the company will go from Russian market then Chinese companies will be quick to have the market share. Who will lose?

    Let’s be honest nobody in old west (USA, Germany, France, Italy, UK) thinks that Putin will attack them. They say the right things as usual and do nothing (as usual). Especially Germany.

  13. This comment section is for everyone who think it’s just the russian government and not the people. Those people, as they always had throughout history, bombed the city to the ground, rebuilt it for their own needs (not for the ones whose loved ones they murdered and who they forced to evacuate), and then are asking for appreciation. According to them, if someone bombed their home to the ground with all of their loved ones inside, then built a new house on their bones and moved in themselves, then that’s a good thing. No humanity, no empathy, no admittance of crimes against humanity. They will murder anyone, bomb anything, and then pretend to be liberators reigning on ashes and bones.

  14. Can somebody explain to me how it is bad to help rebuild a destroyed city? Would you rather it stays as a pile of rubble so no one can live there? The people of Mariupol have been through enough and just because russia controls the city now doesnt mean you have the right to deny the people there decent living conditions.

  15. Why is the word “reconstruction” in quotes? It was utterly ruined, and it’s being reconstructed in the occupying regime’s image.

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