Bypassing Sanctions: How British Company Renishaw Assists the Russian Army

The UK-based company Renishaw manufactures measuring systems that monitor the quality of components made by metalworking machinery. Such equipment is essential for the military-industrial complex, where maximum accuracy is paramount — says Kamil Galeev, expert at the analytical project Rhodus Intelligence. “After the machine produces the part, the Renishaw device checks whether it has been cut correctly. For most consumer goods, there is no need to use measuring devices because small discrepancies don’t matter. In military production however, extreme accuracy is required,” the expert explains.

Since the beginning of the war, Renishaw has ceased its business operations in Russia and Belarus, writing off around €2.5 million worth of assets and losing approximately 1% of revenue (in 2022, the company earnt around €800 million in revenue). The corporation stated in its report that it “tries to control any attempts to purchase products by alternative means.” But customs data shows that so far this has been unsuccessful: in 2023, approximately €3.5 million worth of Renishaw equipment was imported into Russia (360 million rubles, to be precise). Conveniently, the basic software required to operate the equipment is also readily available.

Top 10: Who imported Renishaw equipment into Russia in 2023

IStories continues to report on how Russia is bypassing sanctions: read about the import of microchips through Kazakhstan here, about components for Orlan drones here, for Lancet drones here; about components for Rostec companies here; and more about why sanctions are failing — here.

Who imports Renishaw into Russia

• The St. Petersburg-based NPK Fotonika is the largest importer of Renishaw, buying up a hefty 59 million rubles worth of product through their Hong Kong-based supplier Ace Electronic — both companies fell under U.S sanctions in the fall of 2023. For Fotonika however, 59 million rubles, like for other Russian Renishaw importers, is just a drop in the ocean. According to financial documents acquired by IStories, one of Fotonika’s biggest clients is the supplier of electronic components Neva Electronica, to which Fotonika sold parts worth 2.3 billion rubles in 2023. Neva Electronica was sanctioned for supplying goods to Russian defense enterprises back in 2012. According to a Russian register, the owner of Fotonika, Alexander Potapov, was a co-owner of Neva Electronica until 2022.

• In second place is Testkomplekt, which imported goods worth 52 million rubles. IStories has previously reported on this company, which supplies the defense industry complex, accumulating an array of international sanctions in the process. The companies which supplied Renishaw technology to Testkomplekt — the Hong Kong-based United Electronics Group Company and the Chinese enterprise Beijing Shangyixianda Technology — currently only under U.S sanctions.

• Mir Stanochnika takes home the bronze medal for clocking up 23 million rubles worth of imports. The company was placed under U.S sanctions in February 2024 for its role as a contractor to the Russian defense industry. However, its suppliers — Hong Kong-based Koves Industry, Chinese Terry CNC Tool, Armenian Fargometalam, and Turkish VBH Kapı ve Pencere Sistemleri San. ve Tic — have not yet been sanctioned.

• In fourth place is the Moscow-based Algoritm Tochnosti, with 22 million rubles. The enterprise is engaged in wholesale trading of machinery. In 2023, one of their largest clients was UPKB Detal. Detal, which is a member of the Tactical Missiles Corporation, specializes in the development and production of radar technology for aviation, missile, and space systems. It too has been placed under sanctions. Algoritm Tochnosti not only supplies Renishaw equipment, but also offers services supporting its implementation and maintenance. The Lavochkin Science and Production Association (part of Roscosmos), for instance, hired the company to measure the precision of a machine using Renishaw, a Ryazan-based instrument manufacturing plant (part of Rostec) paid them to update their Renishaw software, and Promtehnologii (manufactures Orsis rifles and is also owned by Rostec) to run diagnostics on the Renishaw measuring system. Neither Algoritm Tochnosti nor its suppliers — Beijing Dechoyar CNC Machinery Technology and Lingke Technology — are currently under sanctions.

• Vektor Etalon takes fifth place, with 19 million rubles. The company's website explicitly states that it is a Renishaw supplier. Its client Promoil purchased various equipment, including “measuring systems,” worth 15 million rubles. Promoil has already been sanctioned — last year it sold components and equipment to several military enterprises, including the manufacturer of T-80 tanks, Omsktransmash. According to the register, the co-owner of Vektor Etalon is Igor Sinyov, a Latvian citizen. In 2019, he was a representative of Hexagon (another manufacturer of measuring equipment) whose products are also sold by Vektor Etalon. Renishaw products were sold to Vektor Etalon by Turkish companies Etasis and Markut Havaciluk Makine Enerji Sistemleri, as well as the Chinese corporation Shenzhen Silvercnc Tech. None of these companies have so far been sanctioned.

• Finally, Russian weapon manufacturers also purchased Renishaw equipment directly. In 2023, 8 million rubles worth of British-made equipment was imported by the Ural Optical Mechanical Plant — the developer and manufacturer of optronic sighting systems for combat aircraft, targeting systems for the navy and ground equipment. The enterprise is part of the holding company Shvabe, owned by the state corporation Rostec. Renishaw equipment was supplied to the plant by the Chinese company Shvabe Opto-Electronics (Shenzhen), which is owned entirely by the Ural Optical Mechanical Plant. Surprisingly, neither the plant nor its Chinese supplier have fallen under European sanctions.

How it works

Renishaw devices require Renishaw software. A task cannot be fulfilled without the corresponding software package — instrument adjustment, inspection of finished parts, etc. The company’s website continues to offer Russian customers service support via their British office. Typically, the client whose email is registered to the order can simply download the required software online. However, basic software can be downloaded without registration — GoProbe and Inspection Plus (a simplified version). GoProbe is available in the App Store and Google Play. The application requires you to select the appropriate software, measuring product and cycle. The program measures the required component and transfers the data to a smartphone, which is then entered into the CNC metalworking machine control panel to activate the Renishaw device.

An employee at one of the defense plants told IStories that he operates Renishaw using the GoProbe app on his smartphone. An employee at another defense plant said they have access to GoProbe and Inspection Plus, while the installation of software onto new machines is handled by the machinery supplier Abamet.

Posing as a client, an IStories journalist contacted a consultant at Abamet. He explained that, as they no longer purchase Renishaw products and only sell what is left in stock, he could only update the software on a machine that has already been installed by his company. He suggested emailing to obtain further details on updating the Renishaw software. Abamet is under U.S sanctions. According to customs data, in 2023 the company imported Renishaw devices worth in the region of 4 million rubles.

IStories attempted to contact the companies mentioned in this article. In response, we were either ignored or received some generic remarks: for example, the owner and CEO of NPK Fotonika, Alexander Potapov, said he does not give interviews; the owner and CEO of Algoritm Tochnosti, Elena Lazareva, read our questions in the messenger and promptly blocked the sender; co-owner and CEO of Vektor Etalon, Evgeny Voynov, hung up and blocked the journalist in the messenger after she mentioned that his company imports Renishaw products into Russia.

Renishaw’s response was predictably in the same vein as other Western companies that have been forced to justify their actions over the past two years: “After Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Renishaw immediately ceased supplying goods to Russia. We also terminated our operations in Russia that same year. Although we spent many years developing our business in Russia and were aware of the consequences for our employees in Moscow and Perm, it was the correct decision. Russian companies that own Renishaw products do not receive support from us. As a responsible global exporter, Renishaw is committed to complying with all control measures and sanctions applicable to our activities, and we have developed and implemented a program aimed at ensuring compliance with this commitment.”

Translated by Sasha Molotkova