Kovlar Group, the largest Ukrainian manufacturer of fire-protection materials, has been subjected to a discrediting campaign and demands an investigation
About 100 similar publications appeared in Ukrainian media between August 14 and 25, aimed at discrediting the company Kovlar Group, its founders and employees. Kovlar Group director Kostiantyn Kalafat believes that the placement of these publications is part of a planned information campaign linked to the activities of unscrupulous competitors who, with the support of corrupt officials, take part in public procurement of fire-protection materials. “As
About 100 similar publications appeared in Ukrainian media between August 14 and 25, aimed at discrediting the company Kovlar Group, its founders and employees.
Director of Kovlar Group, Kostiantyn Kalafat, believes that the placement of these publications is part of a planned information campaign linked to the activities of unscrupulous competitors who, with the support of corrupt officials, take part in public procurement of fire-protection materials. “As the tender practice of recent years shows, the price of Ammokote fire-protection materials made by Kovlar Group is significantly lower than the price of the products with which dishonest dealers win tenders, cheating the state and stealing hundreds of millions of hryvnias from Ukraine's budget,” he said.
It should be noted that the topic of multimillion-dollar embezzlement of budget funds in tenders for fire protection of state facilities was investigated by Yurii Nikolov, a journalist of the Nashi Groshi project. According to his investigations in 2014, 2019 and 2024, price inflation for fire-retardant paint and filler for the needs of the nuclear industry was up to 5 times, and in projects to build shelters for strategic energy facilities, up to 10 times.
Experts in the media community estimate the cost of such an attack at $50–100 thousand, which indicates how serious the intentions of the customers of the black PR are to damage the reputation of the flagship of the Ukrainian fire-protection industry, which stands in the way of embezzling funds in public procurement.
Most likely, the ultimate goal of the corrupt dealers' attack is to halt the operations of the largest Ukrainian manufacturer of fire-protection materials, which sets transparent rules of the game on the market and offers one of the lowest prices for its products. If this plan succeeds, the construction industry will see a significant rise in fire-protection prices, and the state will be forced to spend much more on procuring fire-protection materials.
Founded in 2015, Kovlar Group manufactures more than 25 types of passive fire-protection products using modern technologies, which allows Ukrainian construction customers to obtain high-quality products at an affordable price. Scientific developments and a customer-oriented approach have enabled the company to grow in 9 years from a start-up to the largest domestic fire-protection manufacturer, which currently holds about 60% of the market.
The company said that despite the information attack, it continues to operate as usual and to invest in developing new products. Kovlar Group is also taking all possible measures to hold accountable those involved in creating and spreading defamatory information, and is preparing complaints to the National Police of Ukraine, the Security Service of Ukraine and the State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine to investigate this incident.