Key findings:
- Since the start of the full-scale invasion, the company has imported over $30 million worth of products through a subsidiary in Germany and European suppliers.
- The Klochayev family, which controls Ruspolymet, has businesses in Europe and political connections in Russia.
- Putin awarded the company in 2024, confirming its importance for strategic industries, including the development of new military projects.
A Russian patriot, originally from a Ukrainian village in Cherkasy region, is now receiving gratitude from Putin for his “contribution to the development of the domestic industry”. The founder of the company, which supplies components for the Kalibr and Iskander missiles, and his family built a whole web in Europe so that critically needed raw materials continued to reach the aggressor country. Everything in this story is cynical – from posts supporting Russian policy to contracts in the EU and personal awards from Putin’s hands. Moreover, no sanctions have been imposed on the companies and people of interest. Trap Aggressor’s investigation sheds some light on how the Russian military machine continues to operate in global isolation.
JSC Ruspolymet, founded in 2005, is one of the most modern Russian metallurgical and metalworking enterprises with a full production cycle from smelting to the production of final products. The company’s products are used for the needs of machine-building, aircraft construction, nuclear energy, and other industries. JSC Ruspolymet is a key supplier to the Russian military-industrial complex and provides components and resources for the production of aircraft engines and missiles, in particular Kalibr, Iskander, and X-101. In September 2022, JSC Ruspolymet also received a license for the development, production, testing, and repair of aviation equipment, including unmanned civil aircraft.
In October 2024, at the International Engine Forum in Russia (IEF-2024), a delegation of Ruspolymet, led by CEO Maxim Klochay, traditionally held negotiations with partners. Thus, the company’s stand was visited by the head of the United Engine Corporation (UEC), Vadim Badekha, about whom Trap Aggressor made an investigation earlier. UEC is a part of the Rostec state corporation and produces engines, particularly for military aviation. Ruspolymet supplies the machines for the production of these engines and the parts for their filling.
Previously, in May 2024, Putin awarded the company “for its great contribution to the development of domestic industry and high performance in production activities”. So, the company summed up the year as follows: “We remember the past, appreciate the present, confidently look to the future, together we create a strong Russia!”
The joint-stock company includes several companies: LLC Volzhskie Rassvety, LLC Vyksunsky Liteyny Zavod, LLC RES Engineering, LLC Russkie Traditsyi, LLC Delta, LLC Grankom. The total profit of all these enterprises in 2022 alone amounted to over 13 billion rubles.
Among the top customers of this group of companies are large Russian military enterprises:
- JSC GKNPTS named after M.V. Khrunichev is a rocket and space enterprise that was placed under EU sanctions on February 25, 2023, because it “manufactures and supplies products used by the Russian military during Russia’s aggressive war against Ukraine.”
- JSC Votkinsky Zavod, which, among other things, produces missiles and ammunition for the Iskander and Tochka-U complexes.
- PJSC ODK-Saturn is a developer and manufacturer of engines for Kalibr cruise missiles, Iskander-K, X-101, X-59, etc.
- PJSC ODK-UMPO is an innovative enterprise that develops, manufactures, and provides after-sales service for gas turbine engines for military aviation.
Foreign subsidiaries of Ruspolymet
Despite the full-scale invasion and numerous world sanctions against the Russian Federation, the Ruspolymet JSC continues to trade with the world. The company is still not on the US and EU sanctions lists. And since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, it has imported products worth over $30 million. Almost half of the goods to the Russian Federation were delivered from Austria, where, by coincidence, the family of the Ruspolymet’s president owns or previously owned companies.
In 2017, Ruspolymet registered a subsidiary in Düsseldorf (Germany), which is managed by Andriy Lunyov, a native of Ukraine who probably also lives in Spain. It is through this German company that the Russian manufacturer trades with the world. It is noteworthy that this company is also not on the sanctions lists.
Its official name in German registers is Ruspolymet GmbH. Through it, scarce materials in the Russian Federation, primarily scrap titanium, corrosion-resistant steels, and nickel-chromium alloys are supplied to the Russian Federation. During the full-scale invasion, Ruspolymet GmbH supplied products worth over $13 million directly to the Russian Federation.
Another intermediary between Russia and the civilized world is the Czech company Leseft International s.r.o. This is a large trade and export company that is engaged in both manufacturing and international supplies in the field of metallurgy and metal products. The company’s website has English, Czech, and Russian versions, and its director is Seferyan Lev Ovannesovich, who also has an eponymous company with in Russia.
The Klochay family business
In addition, in 2015, Olga founded AGLO Handel GmbH in Austria, which includes another company, PK Immobilienverwaltungs GmbH, with the same registration address.
