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Cover image: Hankook vertical lathe with numerical control. Source: mach4metal.com.
An analysis of Russian customs data by The Insider has revealed that a $4 million lathe from South Korean manufacturer Hankook Machine Tools was imported into Russia last year, despite export bans imposed by the UK, U.S., and EU.
The shipment was supplied by Koma Tech Co., Ltd, a South Korean firm specializing in the sale of new and used machine tools. The recipient was Iz-Kartex P.G. Korobkov, a Russian company that has been under U.S. sanctions since 2016. Certain details about the firm, including ownership and management information, are classified in Russia’s Unified State Register of Legal Entities (EGRUL).
In 2023, Iz-Kartex — a company that manufactures excavators, drilling machines, and other mining tools — ranked as Russia’s fourth-largest importer of metalworking equipment. Financial records from 2020 show the company reported revenue exceeding 20 billion rubles (approximately $267 million at the time). According to the Committee for Industrial Policy, Innovation, and Trade of St. Petersburg, the company is led by one Andrey Ganin.
The last known owner of Iz-Kartex, Uralmashzavod’s asset management company UK UZTM-Kartex (УК «УЗТМ-Картэкс»), is also under U.S. sanctions. Until 2022, both Iz-Kartex and Uralmashzavod were controlled by Gazprombank, before being transferred to AO Enlil Finance (АО «Энлиль Файненс»). The current owners of UK UZTM-Kartex remain classified, and details on AO Enlil Finance's founders are unavailable, as joint-stock company registration data is not publicly disclosed in Russia.
The Insider has reached out to Hankook Machine Tools and Koma Tech Co., Ltd for comment.
According to customs data, the item is described as a “multi-purpose vertical lathe with numerical control for metal processing, not for military use. Delivered in disassembled form for transport convenience.”
Uralmashzavod, located in Yekaterinburg, a major Russian city east of the Ural Mountains, manufactures equipment for the metallurgy, mining, and energy sectors.
The plant was previously known as Уральский Завод Тяжелого Машиностроения (Ural’skiy Zavod Tyazhelogo Mashinostroyeniya, or Ural Heavy Machinery Plant, UZTM). Historically, it has also been repurposed for military production.