Klaus Peller, CEO of Syktyvkar LPK, will leave his position on March 5, 2025, the company announced. Peller, one of the last senior Western executives remaining in Russia after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, first joined the company in 2011 as Director of Forestry and was appointed CEO in 2012. After a brief period leading an Austrian facility within the Mondi Group in 2013, he returned as CEO of Syktyvkar LPK in 2014. In November 2023, he was also appointed to the company's Board of Directors.
During Peller’s tenure, Syktyvkar LPK implemented large-scale investment projects aimed at modernization and production expansion. Key initiatives included upgrading the facility’s wastewater treatment infrastructure and modernizing its thermal power plant. Under his leadership, the company also improved its forestry operations, achieving high levels of efficiency. Additionally, Syktyvkar LPK strengthened partnerships with the government of the Komi Republic, formalized through social partnership agreements. The company has not yet announced a successor for the CEO position.
Mondi plc, the former owner of Syktyvkar LPK, sold the facility in late 2023 to Sezar Invest LLC for RUB 80 billion ($797 million), completing its exit from Russia. The deal included two affiliated entities and was finalized ahead of schedule. Mondi received RUB 57 billion ($568 million) in its London bank account, with the remaining RUB 23 billion ($229 million) paid in two installments by December 2023. Proceeds from the sale were designated for distribution to Mondi shareholders.
Syktyvkar LPK was Mondi’s largest operation in Russia, producing pulp, packaging paper, and uncoated fine paper. Its new owner, Sezar Invest, is a subsidiary of Moscow-based real estate development firm Sezar Group.
