Russian billionaire Konstantin Nikolaev received EU subsidies while a company linked to him was importing Austrian Glock pistols to Russia

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In 2023, the Russian company Promtekhnologiya imported 200 Austrian Glock pistols. The firm had previously been a partner of Glock GmbH and assembled pistols in Russia with components produced in Austria. Since the start of the full-scale war, in addition to Glock pistols, Promtekhnologiya has also imported 20 Czech-made Česká zbrojovka pistols and more than half a million sniper rifle cartridges used by the Russian military.

Despite his links to Promtekhnologiya and the circumvention of the arms embargo, businessman Konstantin Nikolaev still benefited from European Union subsidies. His Tuscan winery received more than €100,000 in EU funds between 2022 and 2025.

American cartridges for Russian snipers

Promtekhnologiya is the largest private manufacturer of sniper rifles in Russia. The plant produces rifles under the ORSIS brand (short for “Weapons Systems”). In 2019, the company’s annual production was estimated at 1,200 firearms. Since the start of the full-scale war, however, Promtekhnologiya has stopped publishing production figures and financial reports.

Alongside its own production of rifles and ammunition, the company has been heavily involved in arms smuggling. A 2023 Politico Europe investigation revealed that in 2022–2023, Promtekhnologiya imported 340,000 rounds of the powerful long-range .338 Lapua Magnum caliber (Finland), capable of piercing body armor at a distance of one kilometer. The company also brought in 120,000 rounds of .308 Win. rifle ammunition, used both by the military and civilian hunters. The declared manufacturer of these cartridges was the Slovenian firm Valerian d.o.o., but the data was likely falsified, as the firm does not hold a license to produce ammunition. In addition to the allegedly Slovenian rounds, the Russian company obtained 102,200 U.S.-made Hornady bullets and 20,250 Peterson cases of the same .338 Lapua Magnum caliber.

The importance of U.S. and Finnish ammunition for Russian snipers is evident from a demonstration by gunsmith Vladislav Lobaev, the maker of rifles bearing his name. At distances of more than one kilometer, the skill of the shooter and quality of the rifle barrel are not enough to guarantee a successful shot — bullet quality makes all the difference. In the video, Lobaev measures how far .338 Lapua Mag. cartridge cases protrude from the chamber. By standard, the variance within a single batch of cartridges should not exceed 0.2 mm. With Finnish Lapua rounds, the difference is no more than 0.08 mm, while for Russian-made Rapira cartridges from Ulyanovsk Cartridge Plant, the gap reaches 0.88 mm — more than four times above the acceptable limit. Such deviation makes high-precision shooting virtually impossible.

Russian troops have been using American ammunition so openly that the distinctive black-and-red boxes of the U.S.-made Hornady rounds could be seen in a documentary that aired earlier this year on Channel One, Russia’s main state-controlled TV-network.

How Europe armed Russia

Promtekhnologiya continued to receive smuggled supplies even after the publication of the Politico Europe investigation. In November 2023, the company filed paperwork for 100 Glock 43 pistols (9 mm Luger), 100 Glock 19 Gen5 pistols (9 mm Luger), and 20 Česká zbrojovka Shadow 2 pistols (9 mm Luger). The serial numbers of the Austrian pistols run in continuous sequences of 20–30 units, indirectly indicating the involvement of a major distributor in the deliveries.

Until recently, the Russian arms plant and the Austrian manufacturer were closely linked through a partnership. In July 2012, Promtekhnologiya signed an agreement with Glock GmbH to assemble three models of fourth-generation semi-automatic pistols (Glock 17, 34, and 35). The press release was later deleted, but it remains accessible in web archives and in several official sources, including Kalashnikov magazine. The first trial batch alone included more than 2,000 units of Glock™ pistols assembled in Russia.

Thanks to the administrative connections of Promtekhnologiya’s founders (info below), Austrian pistols assembled in Russia began to be purchased by law enforcement agencies. The Federal Drug Control Service (FSKN) and the Federal Customs Service (FTS) also bought Glocks, and the purchase of Austrian pistols continued even after the 2014 embargo on European arms imports that followed the annexation of Crimea. For instance, on October 28, 2014, the Federal Customs Service signed a contract with Promtekhnologiya to supply 16 Glock 17 Gen 4 pistols “to replenish the award pool.” Glocks can still be seen in service with Russian special forces units of the Armed Forces and the Federal Protective Service (FSO).

In addition to Glock GmbH, Promtekhnologiya also cooperated with American and Italian arms makers. In August 2013, the company announced a partnership with U.S. manufacturer ArmaLite. The Russian firm planned to assemble AR-10 and M-15 semi-automatic rifles in .223 and .308 calibers from American components. The automatic version of the latter rifle — the M16 — has been in service with the U.S. Army since the 1960s. All components except for Russian-made barrels were to be supplied from the United States. Although the post-Crimea arms embargo put an end to full-fledged cooperation, in 2019 Promtekhnologiya released its own version of the AR-10, with production fully localized in Russia.

Promtekhnologiya also partnered with the Italian firearms brand Marocchi after the annexation of Crimea. At its plant in Podolsk, the company assembled Marocchi Si 12 12-gauge semi-automatic shotguns using Italian components. In November 2015, Kalashnikov magazine openly wrote that “when it comes to the anti-Russian sanctions imposed by the U.S. and the European Union, the Italians turn out to be less strict than the Germans or the Belgians.” This may have been due to the fact that until 2021, the vice president of CD Europe, the company producing Marocchi shotguns, was Russian national Oleg Benedichuk.

The machines used by the Moscow plant to manufacture sniper rifles also came from Europe. As The Insider previously reported, Promtekhnologiya acquired metalworking equipment from the brands DMG Deckel Maho and DMG Gildemeister, as well as an optical measuring device from DMG Mori, through the Swiss firm Biostrom International AG.

The Swiss prosecutor’s office did eventually open criminal proceedings over these deliveries — but only in the summer of 2023, eight years after the technology transfer took place. In the end, prosecutors accepted the explanation from Biostrom International AG, which claimed to have assumed that the Russian arms plant was acquiring the machines not for its own use, but for resale. In a second case, the company’s technical director received a fine of 1,800 Swiss francs ($2250). After violating their country’s War Material Act (Kriegsmaterialgesetz) by delivering machines on which thousands of rifles for the Russian military were produced, the Swiss intermediaries were fined an amount roughly equivalent to the price of 300 cups of coffee in Zurich.

From Donbas to Iran

In August 2023, after the Municipal Scanner project reported on the use of ORSIS rifles by Wagner Group mercenaries, Promtekhnologiya claimed it only manufactures hunting and sporting weapons. However, that assertion is contradicted by the calibers of its rifles: in addition to the .338 Lapua Magnum, the plant also produces the much larger 375 Chey Tac and .50 Browning. Such rifles fall into the anti-materiel class, designed not only to target personnel but also light armored vehicles.

Promtekhnologiya has been supplying its rifles to the Russian Ministry of Defense for more than a decade. The earliest known contract was signed on May 15, 2015, under which the ORSIS SE T-5000 rifle chambered in .308 Win. was purchased by military unit 28178, part of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR). Since the start of the full-scale invasion in Ukraine, civilian Russian shooters have complained that they are unable to buy ORSIS rifles, as everything produced is redirected to the needs of the Ministry of Defense. Open-source evidence shows that Promtekhnologiya rifles are used by snipers in the 7th Air Assault Division, the 24th Guards Special Forces Brigade, the “Española” battalion of the 88th Reconnaissance and Assault Brigade, the 98th Guards Airborne Division, and the 132nd Special Guards Motor Rifle Brigade.

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Beyond the Russian army, ORSIS rifles can also be seen in service with Belarus’s SOBR special forces, the Vietnamese armed forces, Lebanon’s Hezbollah, and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The IRGC receives the Russian rifles together with German-made Schmidt & Bender 3-12×50 PM2 scopes.

How a partner of Rogozin, Rotenberg, and the FSB receives EU subsidies

Konstantin Nikolaev’s arms business developed in close partnership with members of the Russian government — and an FSB general. In the early 2010s, when Moscow created a special council to promote private arms companies, it was headed by Minister for Open Government Affairs Mikhail Abyzov — who at the same time was a co-owner of Promtekhnologiya. In 2019, Abyzov was imprisoned after being convicted of large-scale fraud.

Until 2012, Alexey Rogozin, the son of Dmitry Rogozin (then the deputy prime minister overseeing the military-industrial complex and defense procurement), served as deputy director of Promtekhnologiya. After accusations that this arrangement constituted a conflict of interest, Alexey Rogozin had to leave the company. He was soon replaced by Dmitry Rogozin’s nephew, Roman Rogozin.

Another business partner of Konstantin Nikolaev was Alexey Beseda, the son of FSB General Sergey Beseda, who formerly headed the Service of Operational Information and International Relations. The younger Beseda received 187 million rubles ($5.7 million at the time or $2.3 million now) from Nikolaev’s companies in a sham deal uncovered in a 2018 investigation by Novaya Gazeta. According to the independent outlet, in 2013 the state research institute Cyclone, along with Nikolaev-linked Cypriot company Rayfast Investments, founded LLC Photoelectronic Devices, which intended to launch production of thermal imaging matrices in Russia. In December 2013, a Panama firm tied to Alexey Beseda — Baron Commercial — acquired 100% of Rayfast Investments for just $10,000. Four days later, it sold 50% of that stake for 187 million rubles ($5.7 million at the time). As a result, the son of an FSB general earned 187 million rubles in four days and obtained a 25% stake in a joint venture (Photoelectronic Devices) whose assets were valued at 1.29 billion rubles ($16 million) in 2015. The payment to the younger Beseda in this deal came from Konstantin Nikolaev’s companies.

Konstantin Nikolaev’s business partner in Promtekhnologiya — as well as in two other ammunition producers, the Tula and Ulyanovsk Cartridge Plants — was Igor Rotenberg, son of oligarch Arkady Rotenberg. After coming under sanctions in 2019, Igor sold his shares, but journalists from Proekt media reported that the deal may have been a sham: the new owner of the cartridge plants, Filipp Gureev, had taken out a microloan in 2019, defaulted on the payments, and clearly lacked the resources for such a major acquisition. Today, Nikolaev’s arms assets are managed by two connected firms — JSC Industrial Technologies and JSC Stolichnaya Paevaya Kompaniya. They have the same CEO, Alexander Kim, are registered at the same address with the same phone number. JSC Stolichnaya Paevaya Kompaniya holds a 46% stake in the Tula Cartridge Plant and a 50% stake in the Ulyanovsk Cartridge Plant. According to the last available financial report from the Tula Cartridge Plant (for 2020), Konstantin Nikolaev’s wife, Svetlana, sat on the company’s board of directors and was among the shareholders holding more than 20% of its shares.

That same year, 2013 — when Promtekhnologiya signed its agreement with ArmaLite and Nikolaev’s Cypriot offshore paid more than $5 million to the son of an FSB general — Konstantin Nikolaev acquired La Madonnina winery in Bolgheri, Tuscany. Bolgheri is one of Italy’s most prestigious wine areas, home to some of the country’s most expensive labels: Sassicaia, Ornellaia, and Masseto. The investment in La Madonnina was estimated at €40 million.

The winery is owned by the Cypriot firm Cetrezza Trading, which until recently belonged to the British Virgin Islands firm Cedar Circle Holding Limited, whose beneficiary was Nikolaev. The current owner of Cetrezza is Magic Forest Trust, whose beneficiaries are not disclosed. Even after the formal sale, however, the Cypriot company maintained ties to the oligarch: Cetrezza owned an 85% stake in the wine boutique Enoteca Tognoni in Livorno, in which Nikolaev held a 5% share until 2024.

Agriculture in Italy enjoys extensive support from both the national authorities and the European Union — and La Madonnina has been no exception. Over the past decade, Nikolaev’s estate has received €135,600 in EU subsidies, including €107,800 paid out after the start of the full-scale war.

How can it be that, in the fourth year of the war, EU authorities are subsidizing the winery of a Russian arms manufacturer? The answer is simple: Italy’s ownership registries do not disclose the beneficiary owners of companies, leaving Italian authorities without data on who really controls Italian firms. Formally, EU regulations require the identification of ultimate beneficiaries of EU subsidies and grants. In practice, however, inquiries sent to the Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF) — the anti–money laundering office of the Bank of Italy — and the National Anti-Corruption Authority (ANAC) revealed that these agencies’ databases contain no information on the beneficiary owners of Italian companies, let alone of foreign ones.

La Madonnina was mentioned in a recent investigation by The Insider into Italian wineries owned by members of Putin’s elite. Following the publication of that report, Democratic Party MP Emiliano Fossi submitted a parliamentary inquiry to the Italian government calling for an investigation by the proper law enforcement authorities.