Several Italian companies have been investing for over ten years in the Russian industrial park Stankomash in the Chelyabinsk region, which is involved in the production of military products, including engineering reconnaissance tools, engine casings for reactive shells of the Smerch multiple rocket launcher system, and air bombs. Vyorstka, together with IRPI media, found that the Italian steel plant Cividale continued to supply the Kremlin with products for weapons production even after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
On July 8, 2023, Smerch rockets fired by Russian military forces hit a residential area in the center of Lyman in the Donetsk region, resulting in nine civilian deaths and over ten injuries. Using cluster munitions from this system, Russian forces repeatedly shelled Ukrainian territories, often hitting residential buildings and causing civilian casualties. Components for such shells are produced by the Stankomash industrial park in Chelyabinsk.
The factory, founded in 1935, was reoriented during the Great Patriotic War (World War II) for military production. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the factory territory, except for a few buildings, fell into disrepair. In 2014, the facility was sold to the Konar group of companies, which began restoring and expanding the production. It was the same group to which Vladimir Putin tasked with increasing the production of machine-building products "to enhance Russia's defense-industrial potential and mitigate the impact of international sanctions."
The area of the Stankomash industrial park, almost two square kilometers, was restored with the participation of several European companies. One of these was the Italian company Cividale Spa. In 2012, Cividale established a subsidiary in Russia named BVK—a foundry that is part of the Stankomash park. The Italian company invested 4.5 million euros into the enterprise. BVK produced components for Stankomash, a company that manufactures weapons and ammunition.
This company was sanctioned by the United States in 2022, and the BVK foundry was sanctioned in June of the previous year for producing "products for the Russian naval industry." However, the EU has not imposed sanctions against these companies. Vyorstka and IrpiMedia analyzed Cividale's supplies to Russia after the war began.
According to closed customs statistics available to the editorial team, since the invasion of Ukraine, the Italian company has delivered over 17 million euros worth of goods to Russia, including propeller blades for icebreakers, parts for steam turbines and oil and gas pumps, metal blocks, and large-caliber turning-milling equipment. The latest delivery found was dated April 1, 2024. IrpiMedia also discovered official documents confirming contracts in which products from Stankomash are supplied to companies involved in Russia's defense complex.
Among the documents is an arbitration dispute that began in October 2024 between BVK and the sanctioned Russian company Silovye Mashiny. The documents show that BVK supplied companies currently under sanctions at least until the end of 2024.
IrpiMedia inquired with Cividale about the goods supplied by BVK to Silovye Mashiny and whether the contract is still active. The company responded that it did not have this information, adding that "no company in the Cividale Group worked with Silovye Mashiny during the specified period."
Moreover,"BVK was in a lawsuit with Tolyatti-based Metallist, a producer of weapons and ammunition. According to the materials of the arbitration case, the companies entered into a contract in 2019.
In response to questions about possibly reevaluating its involvement in Russia in light of American sanctions, Cividale told IrpiMedia that it intends to separate BVK in order to remove the Russian company "from the consolidated balance sheet of Cividale."
From 2014 to 2023, the total revenue of the Cividale group from Russia exceeded 90 million euros. In the year of the invasion of Ukraine, the Italian company earned 12.3 million euros from sales to Russia. In 2023, revenue fell to 5.6 million euros.
No data for 2024 is currently available.
