C&EN: Zelenskyy calls on BASF, others to leave Russian market

In this week's C&EN (article by Alex Tullo): 

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has made Russia a pariah for multinational companies, including chemical makers, who are under mounting pressure to disengage from the country.

In an address on March 15, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy called out the world’s largest chemical company, BASF, and the drug companies Bayer and Sanofi as among the “large corporations that still sponsor Russia’s military machine and have not left the Russian market, although they should have done so immediately.”

BASF has 12 chemical production sites in Russia, where it employs about 700 people. It is also a majority partner in Wintershall Dea, an oil and gas company that has extensive operations in the country.

BASF says it hasn’t conducted new business in Russia and Belarus since March 3. “An exception,” it says in an emailed statement, “are products supporting food production, as the war holds the risk to trigger a global food crisis.” BASF says it is also following applicable laws and regulations. “We take responsibility for the safety of our chemical production sites in Russia and continue with their maintenance.”

Dow, the largest US chemical maker, told C&EN in an email that it has suspended all purchases of feedstocks and energy from Russia. Dow says it has also “significantly reduced its operations and product offerings in the country” and halted investment. It adds, however, that it is still supplying “limited essential goods in Russia, including food packaging, hygiene, cleaning and sanitation products and household goods.”

I don't tend to think of Russia as a major home for chemical manufacturers, but the Russian invasion of  Ukraine has been a good opportunity to enumerate those multinationals that do have business interests in Russia. Looks like there's at least one non-trivially sized coatings facility there, curious to see how this will impact BASF operations overall.