Nokian Tyres plc announced it completed the sale of its operations in Russia to PJSC Tatneft after finishing the registration formalities in Russia. Nokian Tyres has now ended all its operations in Russia.
Nokian Tyres has been operating in Russia since 2005. In 2021, approximately 80% of the company’s passenger car tires were produced in Russia and the business area of Russia and Asia represented approximately 20% of Nokian Tyres’ net sales, according to the company.
This move follows Nokian Tyres’ Board of Directors announcement in June, 2022 it would initiate a controlled exit from the Russian market. Due to the war in Ukraine and the subsequent, tightening sanctions they felt it is no longer feasible nor sustainable for Nokian Tyres plc to continue operations in Russia.
“For the past months, we have witnessed shocking events in Ukraine. We have followed the situation with great sadness and we, along with the whole international community, unequivocally condemn the war, which has caused unspeakable suffering to so many”, says Jukka Moisio, president and CEO of Nokian Tyres, last June. “Our short-term focus has been on adapting to the fast-changing, highly uncertain operating environment, and maintaining control of our operations in Russia.”
“After a thorough consideration and assessment of various options, we have decided to rebuild Nokian Tyres without a presence in Russia and focus on growth opportunities in our other core markets. This was not an easy decision given we have over 1,600 dedicated employees in Russia whose expertise we highly value as well as many long-standing customer and supplier relations built over the past 17 years,” Moisio continued.
To secure supply of its products, concurrent with the June 2022 announcement, Nokian Tyres said it has continued to increase capacity at its factories in Finland and in the US, and has decided to invest in completely new capacity in Europe. The company announced earlier in the year that it had stopped investments into the Russian facility and started transferring production of selected key product families from Russia to its other factories.
