Austrian woodworking holding Kronospan closes business in Belarus

The Austrian woodworking holding Kronospan has closed its business in Belarus. Its factories and logistics centers are now owned by the Emirati Causa Foundation. The supervision activities were handed over to Russian managers, writes officelife.media.

The legal entities that owned Kronospan enterprises in our country have completed the rebranding. The factories in Smarhoń are now managed by the companies Ultradecor, Ultradecor Properties and Ultradecor NT, in Mahilioū - by Ultrabuild Steel and Ultra Play OSB, in Viciebsk - by Ultrabuild. Other local legal entities were also renamed.

The withdrawal of Kronospan from Belarus took place "secretly" in the early fall of 2023. Before that, the assets in the Russian Federation were transferred to the same fund registered in the United Arab Emirates.

The Austrian woodworking holding appeared on the Belarusian market in 2011. It was the largest investor in the wood processing industry. The total amount of investments is estimated at 1 billion euros (from 2012 to 2016 the holding invested 870 million dollars in Belarusian projects).

Kronospan's enterprises were included in the list of "assets of unfriendly countries", which cannot be sold without the permission of the government.

In 2021, Kronospan was included in the "black list" of companies cooperating with the regime of Aliaksandr Lukashenka. Back then, Austria was trying to "slow down" the introduction of economic sanctions against Belarus.