Guardian to Continue Running Russia Floats to Ensure Safety of Employees, Facilities

Dave Robertson, president and COO of Koch Industries, the company that owns Guardian, made two statements to employees regarding the invasion of Ukraine and the status of the company’s two glass manufacturing facilities in Russia, which employ about 600 people. As of the March 24 statement, the facilities remain open.

Robertson condemned the invasion: “The horrific and abhorrent aggression against Ukraine is an affront to humanity. It violates our company’s values and principles, which are grounded in the fundamental truth that the system most conducive to human wellbeing, progress, civility and peace is one based on respect for the dignity of the individual, the consistent rule of law and the right to freely exchange goods and services.”

Robertson says that Guardian will continue to operate the facilities to ensure the safety of employees and the facility. “Russian officials have threatened to punish local employees of manufacturing facilities that shut down,” he said in the statement. The Russian government has also threatened to seize manufacturing facilities that companies close, says Robertson.

He also underlined that Guardian’s operations do not aid Russia’s war effort. “None of the glass produced at the facilities in Russia is for military use. Eighty percent of the glass produced at these facilities is for residential, while the remainder is for office and commercial buildings,” he says.