Russian state-owned weapons mill Biysk Oleum (BOZ) acquired advanced production automation equipment from Siemens, despite the applicable sanctions.
The information disclosed by Reuters indicates that there is simply a complex supply chain that allows global technological restrictions to be avoided.
An intermediary from Kaliningrad, Techpribor, played a key function in the operation. It was she, according to the findings of the investigation, who ordered equipment from Chinese distributors specified as Huizhou comic Tek and fresh origin Automation.
Journalists confirmed that the equipment, which yet went to the BAZ factory, corresponded to the Siemens models covered by the order. Chinese suppliers admitted that they were not asked by a German company about the final recipient of technology.
The acquisition is straight linked to the intensive expansion of the production capacity of the BOZ plant, which since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 increases the production of explosives, including hexogen (RDX).
In the face of staff shortages, automation has become a precedence for the Russian defence manufacture to increase productivity. Investment in modernization of Siberian plant, owned by the sanctioned Ya.M. Sverdlov, is estimated at over 15.5 billion rubles.
Siemens guarantee its commitment to the enforcement of sanctions and requires this from its partners, but acknowledges that goods can go to Russia without its cognition through complex networks of intermediaries.
The case sheds light on China's increasing function as a supply channel for Western technology for the Russian arms sector. In response, the European Union began imposing sanctions straight on Chinese companies supporting Russian aggression as of December 2024, extending the list in July 2025 and expanding diplomatic force on Beijing.
