Ukraine's passive fire protection market could grow to $25 million

If hostilities end in 2025, Ukraine's passive fire protection market could grow roughly 2.5-fold from 2026 – to about $25 million, Kovlar Group, a manufacturer of passive fire protection products, has reported.

According to a study by the company's experts, based on the interim results of the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2025 (Rome) and taking into account the priority reconstruction tasks, the segmentation of the passive fire protection market by material type is expected to change. A larger share will go to intumescent coatings for steel – 35-40%, fire-resistant plasters and boards – 20-25%, penetration sealing and utility protection systems – 25-30%, wood protection materials – up to 10%, and ventilation and smoke duct materials – 5-10%. Demand is also forecast to grow for epoxy and polyurethane fire protection systems for oil and gas infrastructure, the energy sector and strategic facilities, which was previously limited by the high cost of imported analogues.

Kovlar Group director Kostiantyn Kalafat emphasized that the capacity of domestic manufacturers is sufficient to ensure the large-scale reconstruction of the country's infrastructure in the post-war period. In particular, Kovlar Group LLC prioritizes the restoration of the energy sector, where the speed of work, the availability of materials and heightened fire safety requirements are decisive.

“The use of Ammokote products ensures that fire protection work is carried out promptly – our own production shortens logistics lead times and allows large volumes to be supplied quickly. Local production lowers the cost price compared with imported analogues, which is especially important for large-scale recovery projects,” said the company's director Kostiantyn Kalafat.

An important factor for reconstruction is the implementation in Ukraine of the law “On Making Construction Products Available on the Market”, which implements the provisions of Regulation (EU) No. 305/2011 and is intended to raise the competitiveness of the Ukrainian fire protection segment compared with European products. According to Kostiantyn Kalafat, Ukrainian manufacturers of fire protection products should actively adopt manufacturing and product-control technologies in line with advanced European standards.

A critically important area of the company's activity is fire protection of cable lines at energy facilities, where fire safety is a condition for the reliable and uninterrupted operation of generation, substations and grids. To protect cable systems, Kovlar Group offers comprehensive solutions: fire-retardant paints, plasters, three variants of penetration systems, as well as special sleeves, seals and sealants. In the first half of 2025, the company developed Ammokote TOP-W, a universal finishing material for fire protection systems of cable communications; certification of the Ammokote EP epoxy fire-retardant paint is under way.

“The company adheres to transparent competitive procedures and is ready to work within open tenders and to cooperate with government bodies, contractors and project teams for prompt, safe and economically sound reconstruction,” emphasized Kostiantyn Kalafat.

Kovlar Group LLC was founded in 2015 in Kyiv and is the largest manufacturer of passive fire protection products in Ukraine. According to OpenDataBot, the company's charter capital is UAH 1.2 million, and its ultimate beneficiaries are Kostiantyn Kalafat (40%), Andrii Ozeichuk (35%) and Liubov Vakhitova (25%). The company's revenue for 2024 was UAH 91 million 370.5 thousand, twice as much as in 2023, and net profit was UAH 13.4 million, 1.7 times more than in 2023. In the first quarter of 2025, the company's revenue was UAH 13.5 million and net income UAH 1 million 983 thousand.