Bohnenkamp AG statement on the Ukraine conflict

On 24 February, Russia's war of aggression on Ukraine began. We strongly condemn this brutal attack. Many innocent people have already been killed or wounded and the country devastated. Millions of Ukrainians are fleeing the country and the humanitarian situation of those who remain is deteriorating by the hour. Our solidarity and support is with the people of Ukraine.

This means definitively:

our particular concern is for our employees in Ukraine. We have offered them and their families support during their escape and accommodation in both Riga and Osnabrück. Our employees will continue to receive their salaries.

Bohnenkamp AG has made a donation to Action Alliance Ukraine in response to the humanitarian crisis. The Bohnenkamp Foundation is supporting the Caritas aid project for the care of refugees from Ukraine with €100,000.

Our logistics site near Kiev was completely destroyed in a tank battle. Nevertheless, we will continue to try to supply our customers and farmers in Ukraine with our products from other locations. We hope this will provide farms with the resources they need to at least partially ensure their sowing and harvesting for 2022.

Our activities in Russia and Belarus

In response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Bohnenkamp has stopped all expenditure in Russia and Belarus. This includes
· the suspension of all marketing activities
· the halt of all projects aimed at expanding our business activities
· the suspension of all investments.

We are aware of the voices calling for a complete halt to the supply of all our products to Russia and Belarus. We understand these concerns as war raises moral and ethical issues for any business.

Our position is that this senseless war has already claimed too many lives. As a company, however, we also have an ethical obligation not to withhold our products from the civilian population as they contribute to the production of food. 

In the recent statement on the invasion of Ukraine, G7 agriculture ministers made clear that any increase in food prices and volatility in international markets could threaten food security and nutrition on a global scale. This shortage of food would hit the most vulnerable in particular. By supplying farmers with our products in all the countries where we are present, we aim to help protect food supply chains from further disruption and help prevent a potentially unprecedented food crisis.

In doing so, we naturally observe all existing requirements and European sanctions imposed on Russia and Belarus. We do not support state-owned enterprises and companies whose owners are on the sanctions lists, and we do not supply dual-use items or products that are on the sanctions lists.

We also feel obligated to our 199 long-term employees in the Bohnenkamp Eastern Group, who work together in a collegial manner across all national borders (Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Baltic States, Kazakhstan) and now through no fault of their own have to fear for their livelihoods. Nevertheless, we will closely monitor the political situation and decide at a later stage on our business activities for 2023 and beyond, depending on whether Russia ends its unjustifiable attacks on Ukraine and returns to a path of international diplomacy and peace.

The situation remains volatile and we will continue to monitor developments and further refine or adjust our response as needed. In doing so, we support all those who call for an immediate end to this war and hope that peace will return to Ukraine - and to the world.

'War is a condition in which people shoot at each other, who do not know each other, on the orders of people who do know each other, but do not shoot at each other'.
(quote from George Bernard Shaw in a comment by an employee of Bohnenkamp AG)