02 September 2026 , 20:54
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The German-Chinese machine tool manufacturer Priminer continued supplying equipment to Russia after the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, including to companies in Russia’s defense industry, according to a report by Die Zeit.
Internal documents, letters, and correspondence obtained by the outlet show that many of the machines supplied were equipped with CNC systems made by the German conglomerate Siemens.
The German arm of the company, Priminer Werkzeugmaschinen GmbH, is based in Neumünster, while production is based in China. Die Zeit obtained a list of over 100 clients that received equipment from Priminer’s “official representative office in Russia” between 2021 and 2024.
Among the recipients were an entity belonging to the Almaz-Antey defense concern, which received a machine with a Siemens CNC system in December 2023; ENICS, a Kazan-based drone maker, which received two machines in June 2023; and the Kurganpribor plant, which produces components for grenades, rocket artillery systems, and guided missiles and received a shipment in September 2023. All three companies were already under U.S. and EU sanctions at the time of the deliveries.
In February 2024, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Priminer Russland (lit. “Priminer Russia”) for supporting Russia’s military-industrial complex. However, the company’s German and Chinese divisions were not placed under restrictions, and documents show that after the sanctions, Priminer did not stop doing business but instead simply changed its branding. In April 2024, an employee of Priminer’s Russian dealer, Pumori, based in Yekaterinburg, wrote to colleagues that deliveries would continue under the “Evolution” label.
The correspondence shows that, under that name, 17 V17L machines, renamed Evo-7, were supplied to Burevestnik, a sanctioned manufacturer of artillery guns. In November 2025, Priminer Russland itself changed its name to High-Precision Technologies (while keeping the same taxpayer identification number).
Siemens confirmed to Die Zeit that it supplies products to the Priminer divisions in Germany and China. The company cited contractual guarantees that its equipment is not used for deliveries to Russia and end-user declarations from its Chinese partner. At the same time, Siemens acknowledged that it “cannot always be ruled out” that individual goods reach Russia without the manufacturer’s knowledge and said it had opened an internal review.
Lawyers for Priminer’s German division told Die Zeit that the company had not violated sanctions or export control laws and was not legally connected to Priminer Russland, which they said is governed exclusively by Chinese law.
The Insider previously found that equipment from more than 6,000 foreign companies is being supplied to sanctioned Russian companies via China, Turkey, India, and the United Arab Emirates. Approximately 4,000 of those companies are registered in China.
World Affairs Correspondent