Pirelli has been accused of concealing business dealings and working for the Russian military

Grizzly Research, an American short-selling research firm, has published a comprehensive report accusing Italian tire manufacturer Pirelli of deliberately concealing its actual revenues from operations in the Russian Federation and of indirectly collaborating with the Russian military-industrial complex. 

Analysts at Grizzly Research claim that Pirelli currently remains the only Western tire manufacturer still operating in the Russian Federation. The main allegations and facts cited in the report include:

• Concealment of actual profits. An analysis of Russian financial statements revealed that Pirelli’s local legal entities accounted for approximately 10% of the corporation’s total net profit in 2024. At the same time, in public reports for investors, Pirelli has been masking data since 2024 by grouping Russia into a single region with the Middle East, Africa, and India (this entire macro-region accounted for only about 7% of revenue for 2024–2025).

• Infrastructure support for the Russian military-industrial complex. The Pirelli plant in Kirov shares an industrial site and utilities with the plant of the NIIR research institute, which belongs to Sergey Chemezov’s state-owned sanctioned corporation “Rostec” and manufactures tires for Russian military equipment. According to a 2023 court ruling, the defense enterprise receives heat supply directly through Pirelli’s networks. Moreover, through its institute, “Rostec” owns 25% of the Italian giant’s Russian business.

• Serving the occupying forces. The company’s official Russian website still lists an active dealership in the temporarily occupied city of Donetsk. During a phone call from analysts, the center’s employees confirmed that they serve the Russian military. The report’s authors also called Pirelli’s hotline posing as military personnel and were able to obtain an internal email address for placing orders without any issues.

• Loyalty to war criminals. A Grizzly employee called the HR department of the Pirelli plant in Kirov posing as a mercenary whose contract in Ukraine was about to expire. He explicitly stated that he had a criminal record for killing civilians during the massacre in Bucha, but this fact did not deter company representatives, and they confirmed their willingness to consider him for employment.

Following the publication of the investigation, Pirelli’s shares on the Milan Stock Exchange instantly plummeted by 13.4%, hitting a new annual low. Pirelli’s Milan headquarters promptly issued an official statement calling the Grizzly Research report false and assuring that it does not manufacture products for military use, as previously reported to Italian authorities. The company has already retained the law firm Gatti Pavesi Bianchi Ludovici to file lawsuits in all jurisdictions against those disseminating this information. Following the management’s statement, the stock recovered most of its losses, closing at €6.09 (0.7% below the previous close).

Grizzly Research, led by Siegfried Egger, has specialized in exposing corporate fraud since 2020 and profits from “short positions” (the decline in the value of the shares of the companies it investigates). In particular, in March 2026, they accused the French hotel chain Accor of involvement in the transportation of abducted Ukrainian orphaned children to Russia.