Black Donuts Plans Tire Plant in Ukraine Amid

In the complex situation where the Russian-Ukrainian conflict is showing a protracted trend, there is a "brave" in the tire industry - Black Donuts Co., Ltd., which has resolutely decided to deploy new tire production capacity in Ukraine. The company just announced in March that it would help American Tire Works LLC (ATW) build a factory in Oklahoma, and now it has started its pioneering journey in Ukraine.

On June 16, 2025, Black Donuts issued a notice, clearly stating that it is considering building a new passenger car tire manufacturing plant in Ukraine. At present, the project has advanced to the critical site selection stage, which shows its determination and action.

Mykola Kalashnyk, head of the Kyiv State Administration, revealed through Telegram that he had met with the Finnish Embassy in Ukraine and Black Donuts to focus on "the possibility of implementing a large-scale investment project in the Kyiv region and building a tire production and processing plant." Kai Hauvala, CEO of Black Donuts and his team, and Henry Riihimäki, Trade and Reconstruction Advisor of the Finnish Embassy in Ukraine, attended this important meeting.

It is reported that the planned tire factory is of considerable scale, and is expected to produce 5 million passenger car tires per year, and the products are mainly for the export market. Mykola Kalashnyk also added that the Kyiv region is very willing to provide investors with land that meets their requirements and fully guarantee the smooth progress of the project.

From the employment perspective, the factory plans to employ 1,000 employees, among which local veterans will be given priority to provide jobs to help them better return to civilian life. In addition, in order to solve the employment and housing problems of internally displaced persons, residential buildings are also planned to be built near the factory to form a good model of coordinated development of employment and residence.

Black Donuts is not a novice, and it has accumulated a deep foundation in the tire industry. Since its establishment in 2011, it has gradually grown from the original Black Donuts engineering Inc. to a full-service provider, participating in the design of more than 50 tire factories and more than 1,300 tire models. Its business scope is wide, covering new plant (greenfield) and existing plant transformation (brownfield) services, tire and production process design, simulation and testing services, automation solutions, and research and development of sustainable materials and compounds. At a time when sustainable development has become an important trend in the global tire industry, Black Donuts has also actively participated in it.

For example, it will officially launch the InTire Labs tire and rubber industry materials research center in Tampere, Finland on July 16. The center aims to create a sustainable material research and development platform for global tire manufacturers, rubber product manufacturers and raw material suppliers, and help the industry achieve the transformation from fossil-based materials to sustainable materials by providing a series of services from "compound development to performance and functional testing, to underlying logic analysis, reverse engineering and regulatory verification".

In the case of the unclear situation in Ukraine, Black Donuts chose to deploy new production capacity here. On the one hand, it may be because of the potential market demand in Ukraine and its geographical advantages in Eastern Europe, which can radiate surrounding markets; on the other hand, it also demonstrates its high confidence in its own technical strength and market insight, trying to open up new development space in a complex situation.

However, the project will inevitably face many challenges in the process of advancement, such as local infrastructure conditions, supply chain stability and possible policy change risks, etc. However, if the project can be successfully implemented and put into production, it will undoubtedly inject new vitality into Ukraine's manufacturing industry, create a large number of employment opportunities, and may also have a certain impact on the structure of the European tire market.