In 2024, more than $10 million worth of metalworking tools were exported from Israel to Russia. These included milling cutters, drills, turning tools, tool holders (including those made of superhard alloys and cermets), as well as tools for grinding, grooving, and other types of high-precision equipment. After analyzing Russian customs data, The Insider identified which Israeli cutting tool brands are in highest demand among Russian enterprises.
ISCAR
The largest supplier of such products is ISCAR, an Israeli manufacturer that is part of the multinational corporation IMC (International Metalworking Companies), whose headquarters is located in the United States.
According to accounting records in the SPARK-Interfax system, IMC's Russian subsidiary — LLC "Iscar" — has not been operational since 2022. However, the parent company formally remains its founder. This may be due, among other things, to legal difficulties in exiting the Russian market.
Another Russian division of IMC — LLC "TaeguTec Rus" — according to financial reports, continued to pay salaries to its managers in 2023, but reported no revenue.
A third IMC entity in Russia — LLC "Tungaloy Rus" — maintained significant revenue in 2022–2023 (though substantially reduced compared to 2021 — by hundreds of millions of rubles), but after factoring in other expenses, posted a negative financial result after taxes.
Meanwhile, ISCAR products — primarily turning tools and other metal-cutting instruments — were imported into Russia in 2024 in amounts exceeding $4 million. These are mostly high-quality consumables for lathes and milling machines. Many are compatible with multi-axis CNC metalworking complexes, making them essential for certain segments of the defense-industrial complex.
Before procurement data was effectively "classified," ISCAR products were supplied, in particular, to NPO "Bazalt" (a developer and manufacturer of weapons and munitions), the Taganrog Beriev Aviation Scientific-Technical Complex, and the Nizhny Novgorod-based aircraft manufacturer "Sokol" (a branch of the Russian Aircraft Corporation "MiG").
According to Israeli data, weapons captured in southern Lebanon in autumn 2024 included 120-mm mortar shells and handheld anti-tank grenade launchers (RPGs) produced by NPO "Bazalt." Additionally, cluster air munitions developed by this enterprise have reportedly been used in Syria.
According to Russian customs data, ISCAR products were imported into Russia in 2024 mainly through numerous obscure Chinese companies, as well as one firm from Uzbekistan.
A The Insider reporter reached out by phone to an ISCAR representative. Asked about shipments to Russia, the representative replied: "As far as I know, we have not been operating on the Russian market in recent years."
VARGUS
Another leading Israeli brand is Vargus. In 2024, products from this company worth approximately $3 million were imported into Russia. Vargus is part of the German industrial conglomerate NEUMO Ehrenberg Group.
Among the Russian buyers of Vargus cutting tools are the newly registered LLC “Bertran,” LLC “Osbor” (formerly a supplier to the Nizhny Novgorod "70th Anniversary of Victory" plant, a subsidiary of the Almaz-Antey concern), and LLC “Stirer,” which, according to SPARK-Interfax data, is connected to Vargus’s official distributor in Russia — LLC “Intekhnika.”
According to the most recent “non-classified” data, Intekhnika previously served as a regular supplier of cutting tools to military, aviation, and aerospace enterprises, including PJSC UEC "Kuznetsov," JSC UAP "Hydraulics," JSC Proton-PM, PJSC NPO "Iskra," JSC "Sukhoi Company," and others. The number of state contracts was in the hundreds.
The Nizhny Novgorod "70th Anniversary of Victory" plant is a facility built from the ground up in the mid-2010s, where final assembly and acceptance of S-400 and S-500 surface-to-air missile systems and radar stations take place.
JSC "Sukhoi Company," in turn, produced Su-35SE fighter jets supplied to Iran to replace its outdated F-14 Tomcats. According to some estimates, Iran ordered up to 50 such aircraft. The acquisition of a significant fleet of modern multi-role Su-35 fighters by the Iranian Air Force is believed to significantly complicate any potential military operation against Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Baruch Bux, Vice President of Marketing and Sales at Vargus Ltd, told The Insider:
"I don’t know what you’re talking about. Our tools can be found all over the world. We have thousands of dealers, and we don’t know exactly where our tools end up. We can’t control everything. If we had such information, we would probably take action to stop it."
According to customs data, in 2024 Vargus products were supplied to Russia by the Israeli company Delta Legen Ltd. The company’s CEO is Oleg Freidkin. A person with the same full name in Russia is listed as the head and beneficiary of LLC "Isham" and LLC "Ternado," which for over ten years supplied cutting tools to Russian state enterprises, including NIKIET, the Khrunichev Center, and JSC "Shcheglovsky Val."
Delta Legen Ltd told The Insider:
“Delta Legen supplies only products authorized for sale. None of the company’s clients are on sanctions lists, state-owned, or part of the defense-industrial complex.
To avoid misunderstandings, in case of publication of information that does not correspond to reality, the company will take legal action to defend its business reputation.”
CARMEX
In 2024, cutting tools from the Israeli brand Carmex were imported into Russia with a total value of approximately $2 million. The main buyer was Standard Tools LLC, which saw a significant surge in revenue in 2023 — from 600 million rubles to nearly 2 billion.
In previous years, including 2022, Carmex products were purchased by Russian companies such as OKB Fakel, RKS Energia, and NIKI Atomstroy.
Carmex’s marketing department declined to comment. A company representative simply said:
“I don’t know whether Carmex sells to Russian companies.”
However, according to Russian customs data, Carmex Precision Tools Ltd made direct shipments to Russia in 2024 totaling $1,843,367.69.
EROJET
In 2024, cutting tools from the Israeli brand EROJET were imported into Russia with a total value of approximately $0.5 million. Previously, the main consumer of these products in Russia was the Stupino Machine-Building Plant, part of the state-owned Russian Helicopters JSC.
The key importer of EROJET tools, Alkrona LLC, reported rapid profit growth: in 2022, its net profit tripled compared to the previous year, and in 2023, it increased another sixfold.
Shagiv Shafir, CEO of Erojet, told The Insider:
“These tools can be used for many purposes — working with plastic and other tasks. We don’t know who uses them or how — neither in Israel nor in other countries. We work with distributors worldwide and don’t always know the end users. We have no direct contact with them.”
Nevertheless, customs documentation for 2024 shows Erojet listed as the sender of goods worth $489,950.68 to four Russian companies.
Re-export and the role of third countries
Only about half of all Israeli cutting tools imported into Russia in 2024 came directly from Israel. The second-largest exporter was China, followed by Uzbekistan, from where $1.4 million worth of Israeli cutting tools were shipped to Russia.
Given that Uzbekistan has no significant machine-building industry, it is highly unlikely that companies dealing in high-tech cutting tools are unaware of their final destination. Moreover, all tools re-exported via Uzbekistan were products from Iscar.
On the Uzbek side, the shipments involved Techproject LLC, and on the Russian side — Resursprofi LLC.
