Kingspan looks to have stuck to its 2022 promise to expand in Ukraine, after it broke ground on a new plant at Lviv in the west of the country.
The Cavan-based firm has been granted permission to begin work on its €280 million building materials manufacturing campus just outside the city, it said on Wednesday.
The move comes three years after Kingspan first announced it would invest in the new facility. At the time, of course, Russia had already invaded Ukraine and the Irish company’s move was one of the first big investments in the country since the start of the war.
“Working closely with officials local to the site and Ukraine’s ministry of economy and Ukraine Invest, we’re very excited for our vision at this stage to become a reality,” Kingspan’s Ukraine project director Mike Stenson said.
The plant “will manufacture advanced insulation, as well as other building material products and district heating solutions. The building technology deployed, combined with the materials produced at the campus, will play an important role in Ukraine’s reconstruction effort and help meet the rapidly growing demand for energy efficient buildings and facilities in central and eastern Europe,” Kingspan added.
There is a sense that Lviv is a little bit removed from the war, which in public perception terms at least is largely seen to be focused on the eastern parts of Ukraine.
Yet that would underplay the extent of the war for the past three years. Lviv may not be on the front line to the same extent as somewhere like Kharkiv in the east, but the region has still seen its share of Russian attacks.
Clearly there is an element of risk in Kingspan’s investment – especially given the mood music around the conflict since Donald Trump returned to the White House.
Still, the investment by Gene Murtagh’s company should be applauded. Here is a concrete move that will contribute to Ukraine’s economic recovery and, if successful, will show the country is open for business.
Kingspan isn’t a charity. It is a hard-nosed business operation and it is highly doubtful it would have given the green light to the deal if the numbers didn’t add up.
It looks like Kingspan sees profits to be made in Ukraine. Other companies are likely to take note.
