German lubricant manufacturer Addinol has denied news reports that it continues to operate in Russia or that its business there is growing. The company stated that its ownership stake in the Russian joint venture Addinol OOO was frozen following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine and that it wrote off its operations in the country two years ago.
An Addinol spokesperson said the company joined many other foreign firms in exiting the Russian market in compliance with European Union sanctions. He also noted that an audit concluded that all internal processes are in compliance with the imposed sanctions. Addinol also submitted that audit to its corporate bank, which accepted it.
“We 100% follow the sanctions and have not delivered any goods to Russia after the sanctions were imposed,” Steffen Bots, Addinol’s vice president for global sales and R&D, told Lube Report. “To our knowledge, there is no growing Addinol business in Russia. This is misinformation – a campaign to generate chaos and destruction.”
Since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Western and allied governments have imposed multiple sanctions on Russia, primarily targeting its energy exports, military-industrial complex and access to international financial markets. While the sanctions generally do not prohibit foreign companies from doing business in Russia, many chose to suspend or cease operations to express opposition to the invasion. Others have continued operations in the country.
An article published by The Insider alleged that Leuna, Germany-based Addinol was still very much involved in Russia and that Russian importers brought in $7.5 million worth of Addinol products in 2024, including $1.5 million in the first six weeks of 2025. The report also claimed that profits for Addinol OOO rose to $3.46 million in 2022 (up from $649,000 in 2020) and reached $4.11 million in 2023.
Bots explained that Addinol OOO was formed as a 50-50 joint venture with Alexander Tiblen, a Russian national who served as general manager of the operation. He also emphasized that the company has not supplied products or materials to the venture nor received any consolidated revenue from it as of October 2022. Bots added that the Russian entity had started the process of switching to a different brand at the beginning of 2023.
The Insider’s report also alleged that procurement documents found online from before the invasion showed Addinol lubricants were used by Russian entities tied to the defense sector – a claim that Addinol strongly denies.
“There is no way Russian defense companies would use lubricants not made in Russia,” Bots said.
Additional tender documents from the same source also mention several other major Western lubricant manufacturers, prompting Bots to question why Addinol was being singled out. A tender request generally does not mean that a product has ever been supplied, he said.
Lube Report Global included a summary of The Insider article in this week’s issue but has since removed it. The Insider has not responded to multiple requests for comment regarding the source of its claims.
The earlier Lube Report article also reported that Fuchs Petrolub SE was doing business in Russia and had no plans to exit the Russian market, citing a Deutsche Welle article from March this year.
In response to a request for clarification, Fuchs confirmed that it still maintains a subsidiary and production facility in Kaluga, Russia, but described its business activities there as minimal.
“Fuchs continues its business operations in Russia on a limited basis, in full compliance with existing EU, UK, and US sanctions — including no business with restricted industry sectors or sanctioned parties,” the company said in a statement to Lube Report. “This also means that Fuchs Russia does not receive any technical support, products, or raw materials from the rest of the Fuchs Group and thus operates in isolation within the domestic market.”