The Business Insider portal, which is owned by Springer SE, made several strong accusations about the company's alleged embargo violations. Similar accusations were also reported in the online edition of the German newspaper Die Welt and other local publications.
As Rittal has never been in breach of the Sanctions Act – neither before nor after the start of the war in Ukraine – we have taken legal action against the publisher at the Hamburg District Court. The result was that the court prohibited no less than 31 false statements. According to the court, the publisher had failed to provide any reliable evidence to back up its far-reaching allegations.
Following a thorough legal review, this dispute has now been resolved. The publisher has accepted the judgment and has not appealed. The report has already been removed from the portal and is no longer available online.
For Rittal and the companies of the Friedhelm Loh Group, the following still applies: it is one of our Group’s fundamental principles to ensure strict compliance with laws, international regulations and embargoes throughout the company, often going far beyond what is legally required. This is in line with the attitude and values of our family-owned company, which form the basis for our decisions and activities.