Metalworking tools made by the German company Gühring continue to be supplied to Russia despite their use by dozens of defense plants — from the Kalashnikov Concern to PO Mayak, which produces plutonium for nuclear weapons. The Insider found information on 280 contracts for the purchase of Gühring tools signed from 2015 to 2023. After the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Gühring KG said it had cut ties with Russia and deconsolidated its former subsidiary, Gühring LLC. However, the Russian company continued to receive German-made tools and supply Russian defense plants.
In 2023, a Nizhny Novgorod toolmaking plant opened by Gühring in 2016 came under the management of Mobula, a company owned by Yury Gulyayev, the director of Gühring’s former Russian branch. After the German company’s declared withdrawal, the former hired manager founded a company that immediately reached billion-ruble turnover. Despite claims that the two companies are independent of each other, Mobula’s catalog consists entirely of items from the Gühring KG catalog.
In February 2024, The Insider reported on the work in Russia of Gühring LLC (ООО «Гюринг»), a subsidiary of Germany’s Gühring KG that was later renamed Instrumentalnaya Kompaniya Gut LLC, or Tool Company Gut. Its parent company, Gühring KG, makes high-precision tools from hard alloys, cermet, and diamond for metalworking. The company’s annual revenue exceeds 1 billion euros, and it employs more than 8,000 people. Despite promises to wind down its Russian business, Gühring KG’s Russian subsidiary imported at least $20.98 million worth of goods into Russia after June 2022, the vast majority of them made by Gühring KG. They included drills, milling cutters, cermet, and threading tools. In October 2024, Tool Company Gut was placed under U.S. sanctions.
