The Czech company Alta supplies machine tools to Russian tank and artillery manufacturers: details
15 April 11:16
The Czech industrial group Alta continued to service the machinery of major Russian tank and artillery manufacturers after Russia launched a full-scale war against Ukraine, according to a joint investigation by The Insider and Voxpot, as reported by "Komersant Ukrainian".
The beneficiary and founder of the company is Ukrainian-born Vladimir Plashil, who has represented Rosatom’s interests in the Czech Republic and Slovakia since 1995, and in 2012 established a joint venture with the Russian state corporation TVEL to export Russian nuclear fuel to the European market, according to the investigation. He also serves as chairman of the Brno Chamber of Commerce and Industry for CIS countries.
In 1998, Alta also modernized the BelAZ plant, and in 2002 opened an office in Yekaterinburg responsible for modernizing Uralvagonzavod—Russia’s leading manufacturer of tanks, BREM-1 combat vehicles, and other heavy tracked equipment.
The group’s Russian legal entity—Alta Ural LLC, later Alta Rus LLC or “A-R”—specializes in the supply and maintenance of machine tools and machining centers. In Alta Invest’s 2022 report, journalists found a reference to Alta Rus as the official representative of Škoda Machine Tool in Russia, whose machine tools Alta continued to service after the sale of the Škoda Machine Tool plant.
“A-R” is also a distributor for metalworking equipment manufacturers TOS Kuřim, ČKD Blansko, TOS Čelákovice, and the hydraulic press plant TS Plzeň a.s. (formerly Škoda Heavy Engineering).
In 2019, “A-R” acquired Ulyanovsk Heavy Machine Tool Plant LLC (ZSTU). Its main clients are Russian defense plants.
In 2022, Alta divested itself of some of its Russian assets, and two of the four companies—Ulyanovsk Heavy Machine Tool Plant LLC and T21 LLC—were sold to attorney Alexei Panin, who has represented the company in Russian courts since 2013. But the deal may have been a sham: Panin was not the founder of any companies, and it is unlikely that he had sufficient funds to purchase a business with nearly a billion-ruble turnover, investigators write.
In addition, the sold companies use the same domains, the same customs broker, and the same suppliers as Alta’s entities. Specifically, the domains of Alta’s Russian branch and Panin’s companies are registered to each other—LLC “A-R” owns the domains alta-energo.ru, tr21v.ru, and ztsu.rf, while LLC “T21” owns the domain a-r.ru.
Alta continues to directly control the other two legal entities in Russia (A-R LLC and Gudaktiv LLC).
Companies linked to Alta likely continue to serve Uralvagonzavod, which is subject to U.S. and EU sanctions, as well as the manufacturer of Russian barrel and rocket artillery—Motovilikhinskie Zavody—the journalists write.
On May 28, 2022, a Czech company supplied “A-R” with a Skoda-manufactured horizontal CNC milling and boring machine.
“A-R” and “T21” import machines from the same Chinese manufacturer into Russia, clearing them through the same customs broker and listing contact addresses on the same domains. For example, on January 20, 2024, A-R LLC imported a motorized belt conveyor from Verich (Shenzhen) Trading Co., with S.V.T.S. Service Group LLC acting as the broker, and the contact details listed the addresses [email protected] and fxr@alta-ru.
Six days later, on January 26, 2024, “T21” imported a Verich (Shenzhen) Trading Co. coordinate boring machine into Russia. Customs clearance for the machine was handled by the same broker, S.V.T.S. Service Group LLC, and the contact details listed addresses on the same Alta domains: [email protected], [email protected], and [email protected]. In both orders, Ulyanovsk was listed as the place of shipment.
Such a chain of coincidences, the investigators write, strongly suggests that “A-R” and “T21” act as intermediaries in supplies to the Ulyanovsk plant.
Additionally, in the arbitration court, journalists found a reference to a contract between ZSTU and “Uralvagonzavod” for the overhaul of a turning and milling machining center. ZSTU repairs not only machine tools for the main manufacturer of Russian tanks, but also for the leading Russian artillery manufacturer, JSC “Motovilikhinskie Zavody,” which is part of the “Rostec” corporation and produces “Tulpan” self-propelled mortars, “Hyacinth-B” cannons, D-20 and “Msta-B” howitzers, as well as “Nona” self-propelled guns, and “Grad,” “Uragan,” and “Smerch” multiple rocket launchers.
In April 2024, ZSTU employees, in the presence of Gennady Nerobeev, Secretary of the Ulyanovsk Region Security Council, handed over three drones, video goggles, and batteries to the Russian military .
ZSTU also advertises on VKontakte a Škoda W200H horizontal boring machine with a Siemens Sinumerik 840Dsl control system, modernized in 2010, and in October 2025 reported the shipment of a “UF 5212” longitudinal milling machine for the railway industry.
The Russian subsidiary—A-R LLC, which remained in Alta—supplied a Skoda machine to the Chelyabinsk Forging and Pressing Plant (ChKPZ) in 2023. ChKPZ produces hot-forged parts and forgings for artillery gun components, rocket and aircraft engines, as well as stamped wheel rims for special-purpose vehicles.
In response to an inquiry regarding the operations of its Russian enterprises, Alta Invest representatives stated that they do not maintain contact with Russian companies and did not sell them to avoid paying increased taxes to the Russian budget.
After the start of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, the Czech group’s executives continued to visit Russia, journalists note. Alta Invest’s Business Development Director Jiří Šalk and the corporation’s owner Vladimir Plashil visited Russia in 2022 and 2023.
Earlier, the EU adopted its 20th package of sanctions against Russia, banning the export of at least two dual-use goods: CNC machine tools and radio equipment.
CNC machines—computerized tools that cut, drill, and machine materials—are widely used in various industries, from automotive manufacturing to electronics. However, they can also be used to produce parts for missiles, aircraft, and other military systems. Similarly, radio equipment is used for everyday communication but can also have military applications—from battlefield communications to drone control. Both categories fall under dual-use goods, meaning they have both civilian and military applications and are subject to strict EU export controls.
