Kovlar Group, a manufacturer of passive fire protection products in Ukraine, is studying the European market but focusing on creating products for the domestic market, said Konstantin Kalafat, director of Kovlar Group LLC, in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
“We are actively studying the European market and working on harmonizing technical documentation and conformity assessment procedures. As for exports, this is a challenge, because the European market for niche products such as ours is already established, and consumers prefer more stable solutions when it comes to safety, so it is difficult to find customers,” he said.
According to him, the main obstacle to rapid entry into EU markets is currently the complexity of certification procedures in the context of the war—foreign auditors and technical experts are not always able to come to Ukraine to conduct the necessary audits and technical inspections. However, entry into European markets remains part of the company’s strategic plans.
At the same time, Kovlar Group’s products are competitive in terms of quality and cost. “Fire protection is a high-tech and knowledge-intensive industry where proven characteristics are crucial. Over the past 10 years, the requirements for thin-layer fire protection coatings have doubled due to the need to ensure the stability of metal structures during a fire – from 90 to 180 minutes, and we are trying to keep up with this trend. In terms of certain parameters – system efficiency, optimal layer thickness, and stability of results – some of our solutions are on par with, and sometimes even surpass, their European counterparts,” Kalafat emphasized.
Currently, the company’s priority is the domestic market, especially given the growing demand for Ukrainian materials in connection with large-scale restoration and reconstruction programs.
“In this context, our advantage over imports is obvious: short logistics, prompt delivery, the ability to quickly respond to changes in project decisions, instantly provide technical advice, and visit sites. During wartime and the post-war period, the speed of engineering decisions and stability of supply are often critical.
We hope that with the end of military risks, the quality of the implemented projects will become an additional argument for the effective realization of the export potential of Ukrainian passive fire protection systems,” he says. Kovlar Group LLC was founded in 2015 in Kyiv and is the largest manufacturer of passive fire protection equipment in Ukraine.
According to OpenDataBot, the company’s authorized capital is UAH 1.2 million, and its ultimate beneficiaries are Kostyantyn Kalafat (40%), Andriy Ozeychuk (35%), and Lyubov Vakhitova (25%). The company’s revenue for 2024 was UAH 91.3705 million, which is twice as much as in 2023, and its net profit was UAH 13.4 million, which is 1.7 times more than in 2023. In the first quarter of 2025, the company’s revenue was UAH 13.5 million, with a net income of UAH 1,983,000.
