Post by northwestman on May 15, 2024 17:06:25 GMT 1
www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/may/15/jcb-built-supplied-equipment-to-russia-months-after-saying-exports-stopped
The British digger maker JCB, owned by the billionaire Bamford family, continued to build and supply equipment for the Russian market months after saying it had stopped exports because of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, the Guardian can reveal.
Russian customs records show that JCB, whose owners are major donors to the Conservative party, continued to make new products available for Russian dealers well after 2 March 2022, when the company publicly stated that it had “voluntarily paused exports” to Russia.
The data raises questions about the accuracy of JCB’s statements on its business in Russia and relationship with its biggest dealer there, Moscow-based Lonmadi, and that company’s former owner, UK-based JVM group.
JCB has repeatedly said that it stopped exporting products to Russia and JVM companies after 2 March 2022 – less than a week after Putin sent troops into Ukraine.
However, customs records collated by a trade data provider show the serial numbers of dozens of vehicles, worth millions of pounds, which appear to have been supplied to companies in Russia after that date.
JCB’s chair, Anthony Bamford, 78, is one of the UK Conservative party’s biggest donors and a close ally and financial backer of the former prime minister Boris Johnson.
The Bamford family’s business dealings have also come under scrutiny in recent months after the Guardian reported that Lord Bamford and his brother, Mark, could be hit with a bill for more than £500m to settle a long-running tax investigation by HM Revenue and Customs.
The British digger maker JCB, owned by the billionaire Bamford family, continued to build and supply equipment for the Russian market months after saying it had stopped exports because of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, the Guardian can reveal.
Russian customs records show that JCB, whose owners are major donors to the Conservative party, continued to make new products available for Russian dealers well after 2 March 2022, when the company publicly stated that it had “voluntarily paused exports” to Russia.
The data raises questions about the accuracy of JCB’s statements on its business in Russia and relationship with its biggest dealer there, Moscow-based Lonmadi, and that company’s former owner, UK-based JVM group.
JCB has repeatedly said that it stopped exporting products to Russia and JVM companies after 2 March 2022 – less than a week after Putin sent troops into Ukraine.
However, customs records collated by a trade data provider show the serial numbers of dozens of vehicles, worth millions of pounds, which appear to have been supplied to companies in Russia after that date.
JCB’s chair, Anthony Bamford, 78, is one of the UK Conservative party’s biggest donors and a close ally and financial backer of the former prime minister Boris Johnson.
The Bamford family’s business dealings have also come under scrutiny in recent months after the Guardian reported that Lord Bamford and his brother, Mark, could be hit with a bill for more than £500m to settle a long-running tax investigation by HM Revenue and Customs.
