Rockwool will resume cooperation with the Russian military-industrial complex

The Russian division of the Danish company Rockwool has announced the restoration of production of noise and fire insulation products for enterprises of the military-industrial complex (MIC). This was announced by Timur Amirov, Interim Managing Director and General Director of JSC "Development of Construction Assets" (RSA).

"We are now starting the procedure for obtaining the necessary certification. It will take several months, but production is already ready. The most difficult stage will be the restoration of lost contracts due to high competition with domestic companies," Amirov said after a meeting with the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) at the Rockvool plant in Vyborg.

By the end of next year, the company expects to resume deliveries of the entire range of structures used in shipbuilding. Oleg Knyazev, USC's Deputy General Director for Logistics and Supply Management, noted that the company is interested in a large number of Russian suppliers with import-substituted products. "First of all, the quality of the products is important for us. Secondly, there is a competitive market and, as a result, competitive prices. Today we have seen that the production technologies have not been lost. We are waiting for the company to go through all the necessary certification procedures and enter the market," said Knyazev.

One of the future areas of Rockwool's work will be the production of modular prefabricated structures for the Arctic and infrastructure projects. "Taking into account the situation in the construction industry, which is the main market for Rockwool today, it is necessary to develop related areas. The military industrial complex is one of them. The second direction is the production of prefabricated buildings. This will be announced additionally in the next couple of months," Amirov said.

Rockwool explained that the rapidly constructed modular structures will allow the construction of entire settlements with all the necessary infrastructure, which is especially important for new territories, Siberia and the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation, including as part of the development of the Northern Sea Route.

Ivan Markov, Director of the Metallurgy and Materials Department of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, also took part in the meeting at the Vyborg plant. "The company faces the task of reviewing its development strategy and forming a new investment program, which should be aimed at sustainable operations and progressive development," Markov said.

The General Director of Construction Assets Development JSC clarified that at the moment the total investment in the diversification of Rockwool production is estimated at more than 10 billion rubles. It is known that part of the funds will be invested in the construction of a new workshop in Vyborg. "These are the company's own funds. We do not plan to attract any loans or subsidies from the state. On the other hand, so far we are talking about only two projects that were worked out in detail in the first 100 days of our work," Amirov added.

According to him, the company's goal is at least to return the volume of orders to the level of 2022. "The first pilot batch of products has already been released, which confirmed: Russian Rockwool enterprises have maintained their technology and quality despite the decisions of the Danish leadership. We are ready for maximum flexibility in terms of price, taking into account the realities of the market and the requirements of the state defense order," Amirov stressed.

The Rockwool company is one of the leaders in the production of stone wool used for heat and sound insulation. He has been working in Russia since 1995. The first plant was launched in the Moscow region. The company's production sites are also located in Vyborg (Leningrad Region), Troitsk (Chelyabinsk Region) and in the Alabuga SEZ (Tatarstan). Until February 2022, Rockwool actively cooperated with Russian enterprises of the military-industrial complex, in particular, it supplied specialized noise insulation used in the construction of submarines, including nuclear ones, for the needs of the USC.

The cooperation was terminated in 2022 at the initiative of the Danish shareholders of the company. According to Amirov, the company has effectively stopped supporting Russian assets. In 2025, temporary management was introduced with respect to 100% of the shares in the authorized capital of Rockwool LLC and 68% of the shares in the authorized capital of Rockwool-Volga LLC owned by Rockwool A/S. JSC "Development of Construction Assets" has been appointed interim manager. After that, production activity was restored, some of the processes were localized, and new suppliers of components were found. Now the company expects to re-integrate into the production chains of the defense industry. To do this, the company will have to re-go through part of the licensing procedures and restore the stable operation of enterprises in Russia.