According to previous information, the purchase price for the Ulyanovsk plant, which employs 150 people, is ten million euros. Among other things, Wolf sits on the supervisory board of Schaeffler and heads the supervisory board of the automotive supplier Vitesco, which is being acquired by Schaeffler.
From 2010 to 2019 he was Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Russian GAZ Group. Wolf also owns the former MAN factory in Steyr in Upper Austria, which is now called Steyr Automotive. Wolf’s interest in buying the factory in Ulyanovsk became known in March this year. According to a “Spiegel” report at the time, the contract was signed in December 2022.
At the request of the time, investor Wolf told “Spiegel” that the transaction had been thoroughly examined. It was concluded that it was “in compliance with applicable US and EU sanctions legislation”.
Uproar over suspected connections to oligarchs
At the time, suspected links to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, who had a close business relationship with Wolf, caused criticism: according to the report, the business was therefore targeted by the Ukrainian anti-corruption authority NAZK. The agreement was also criticized in the spring for the fact that, among other things, the factory supports the production of a transporter model that will be used by the Russian military for its logistics.
Deripaska joined Austria’s largest construction group STRABAG in 2007. At that time, STRABAG was still under the management of founder Hans Peter Haselsteiner, who saw this step as “our door to Russia”. In October, it became known that STRABAG had reduced Deripaska’s shareholding to less than 25% with a special distribution.
The EU placed Deripaska and all his companies on its sanctions list following the start of Russia’s war of aggression on Ukraine, among other things because it suspected him of being involved in arms production in Russia – Deripaska has long been on the US list time time.
Wolf’s spokesperson rejected the allegations
After the Spiegel article became known, Wolf’s spokesman, Josef Kalina, told APA that Wolf deeply condemned the Russian war in Ukraine and therefore stopped his activities in Russia. Furthermore, it does not do business with people affected by international sanctions. The investor would also be aware of this in a possible purchase of the Schaeffler factory, it was said at the time.
Kalina also rejected the claim that military equipment was produced at the Russian factory. This is a vehicle used only in agriculture. Participating in arms deals would be unthinkable for Wolf, the spokesman said in a statement in March.