SKF statement on media reporting related to sales in Russia
Gothenburg, 1 April 2022: SKF would like to make the following statement in relation to recent media reporting related to sales to certain companies in the Russian nuclear weapons program.
SKF takes this information very seriously and carries out an investigation to thoroughly investigate the matter. The investigation is being made by SKF Internal Audit and supported by external experts.
SKF has received a file with links to websites where Russian state-owned companies publish public tenders. The information includes 171 tenders made by 17 Russian companies.
SKF has not had any of these 17 companies as customers.
SKF has reviewed each of these 171 tenders in detail and in the investigation found one distributor that has bought standard SKF products and then sold them to a company in the armaments industry. This sale was made without the knowledge of SKF. The sale was in breach of the contract between SKF and the distributor as well as with SKF’s Code of Conduct for distributors. The total value of sold products from the distributor to the customer amounted to SEK 113,000 during 2019–2021, with no sales before or after that period. SKF takes this breach of contract very seriously and will take appropriate actions.
For clarity, the distributor's sale to said customer does not mean that SKF has violated any applicable sanctions or export control rules.
Aktiebolaget SKF
(publ)
For further information, please contact:
PRESS: Carl Bjernstam, Group Communication
tel: 46 31-337 2517; mobile: 46 722-201 893; e-mail: carl.bjernstam@skf.com
INVESTOR RELATIONS: Patrik Stenberg, Head of Investor Relations
tel: 46 31-337 2104; mobile: 46 705-472 104; patrik.stenberg@skf.com
SKF’s mission is to be the undisputed leader in the bearing business. We do this by offering solutions that reduce friction and CO2 emissions, whilst at the same time increasing machine uptime and performance. Our products and services around the rotating shaft include bearings, seals, lubrication management, artificial intelligence and wireless condition monitoring. SKF is represented in more than 130 countries and has around 17,000 distributor locations worldwide. Annual sales in 2021 were SEK 81,732 million and the number of employees was 42,602. www.skf.com
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