Source A queue has already lined up for the concern's Russian assets. Extended in time and connected, apparently, with the high uncertainty of the situation in Russia, the departure of foreign companies still receives some logical conclusion. So, it became known about the future fate of Henkel factories, one of which is located in the Saratov region.
The German chemical-industrial concern Henkel plans to completely withdraw from business in Russia by the end of this year. This was stated in the media by the financial director of the company Marco Svoboda. On the Russian version of the company's website, nothing is reported about this, however, the last time the news was published there on February 22.
In August, from the company's reports it became known about the intention to put up for sale assets in Russia and Belarus. For the first half of this year, the manufacturer of detergents and cleaning products, adhesives and building mixtures estimated losses from leaving the country at 184 million euros, of which 88 million euros will cost him damage to his business reputation.
In Engels, Henkel has a large production of washing powders under the popular brands Persil, Losk and Pemolux, which has been operating since the early 90s. In 2017, 30% of all Henkel detergents in Russia were made in Engels. The plant's capacity is 120 thousand tons of products per year. In addition to washing powders and raw materials for shampoos, Henkel mastics and sealants are also produced here, this production is carried out by the Henkel Adhesive Technologies plant. The staff of the Engels factories is 123 people.
In addition to the Saratov region, Henkel factories operate in the Chelyabinsk and Ulyanovsk regions, building mixtures are produced there. There are enterprises in the Leningrad region, Perm, Kolomna. In total, the company has 11 factories and 12 offices in the Russian Federation.
Henkel announced the curtailment of its business in Russia back in April against the backdrop of events in Ukraine. At that time, the financial consequences were not yet known, the company explained that for the time being, its 2.5 thousand Russian employees would continue to receive salaries, but did not explain other details.
The reaction of the regional leadership was sluggish. Roman Busargin, at that time still a vice-governor, said that the plant continues to operate as usual, and its German owners will ensure “an orderly process of implementing their decision.” In the summer, the newly appointed head of the Engels district, Dmitry Plekhanov, went to the enterprise, but nothing was reported about the results of his visit.
Henkel stopped investing in Russian assets back in March, but has not stopped production so far. According to the CEO of Infoline-analytics Mikhail Burmistrov, the value of the group's assets in Russia at the beginning of 2022 was at least 600 million euros. But after the outflow of international brands from the Russian Federation, it is unlikely that it will be possible to sell it for this money, most likely, the price will not exceed 150-180 million euros even if it is sold to Russian, Chinese or Turkish owners.
At the same time, Turkey is extremely interested in developing its production of consumer goods in Russia. Also among the competitors of Henkel, the expert names the company “TechnoNIKOL” by Igor Rybakov, which produces building materials. By the way, in Saratov, Rybakov is building a plant for the production of soft roofing, hoping to put it into operation this year.
As Marko Svoboda just now said, it is most likely that it will not be possible to complete the process of selling assets before the end of the year. At the same time, he stressed that great interest was shown to him from the side of business.
Help. Henkel's assets in Russia are managed by Henkel Rus LLC, a 100% subsidiary of the German JSC Henkel AG&CO. KGAA. The authorized capital of the company is 124.5 million rubles. Revenue in 2021 increased by 13.1% and reached 95.1 billion rubles with a net profit of 7.4 billion. In total, the concern is represented in more than 70 countries. For the first half of 2022, the revenue of the entire company rose by 9.9% and reached 10.9 billion euros. But net profit fell by more than half, amounting to 448 million euros. The brand portfolio includes Persil, Bref, Pril, Laska, Schwarzkopf, Syoss, Fa, Ceresit, Moment adhesives, Loctite and others.
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