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Photo: Miguel Oses / EFE
Spanish prosecutors have launched a probe into the multinational corporation Maxam after an investigation by The Insider revealed that the company’s Russian subsidiaries continued producing explosives after the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The complaint requesting the probe was originally filed by anti-war activists from La Asociación de Rusos Libres (Association of Free Russians), and its launch was confirmed in a response from the State Attorney General’s Office that was shared by the activists via Telegram on June 20.
The Insider’s investigation detailed how, despite international sanctions and restrictions imposed after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Maxam’s Russian affiliates supplied products linked to the defense sector and transferred multimillion-euro payments back to their Spanish parent company.
What The Insider’s investigation revealed
Maxam, a Spanish company, is one of the world’s largest producers of explosives. It has operated in Russia since 1999 through four subsidiaries: Maxam Rusia, VSI, IMS, and YUII-Sibir (the latter is located in Krasnoyarsk Krai). While these subsidiaries did not work directly with Russia’s defense sector, they were part of supply chains used in the production of weapons. For example, Maxam-manufactured Rioflex explosives are used by the Gorevsky GOK (Mining and Processing Plant) to extract zinc and lead — metals widely used in the defense industry.
Under European law, the parent company is not automatically responsible for the activities of its foreign subsidiaries. However, several signs indicate that the Spanish manufacturer not only retained ownership rights but also directly participated in its Russian subsidiaries’ operations. One such indicator is the registration of intellectual property. On April 24, 2023, Maxam Rusia filed an application to register an industrial mixer designed for manufacturing explosive compounds. The device listed two Spanish Maxam employees as inventors: Raquel Vivanco González and Fernando Beitia Gómez Segura.
The Spanish corporation also financially benefited from its Russian subsidiaries. In 2023, YUII-Sibir paid out 40 million rubles (almost €500,000) in dividend payments to its parent company, MaxamCorp International S.A.
New evidence of Spanish involvement
After the investigation was published, The Insider uncovered evidence of an even larger financial transaction. In March 2023, MaxamCorp International, S.L. approved an assignment of receivables (cession) agreement between YUII-Sibir and EuroChem, a major producer of nitrogen-based fertilizers that also supplies defense plants. As part of this deal, YUII-Sibir, which had supplied explosives to EuroChem, transferred the right to collect payment for the delivered goods to its parent company.
As a result, EuroChem was obligated to pay a debt of 862.8 million rubles (approximately €10.4 million at the time, based on the Central Bank of Russia’s exchange rate) directly to MaxamCorp International. MaxamCorp, in turn, became a debtor to YUII-Sibir.
Thus, the Spanish company obtained the right to collect a debt from EuroChem for explosives delivered by its Russian subsidiary. While YUII-Sibir’s financial statements do not confirm that the payment was in fact made, the company did create a provision for suspicious debts in the same amount — 862.8 million rubles. Such accounting language indicates that the company does not expect repayment of the debt, meaning YUII-Sibir did not anticipate receiving payment from MaxamCorp International.
The arrangement appears to have been designed in order to circumvent the ban on dividend payments to Spanish beneficiaries. It strongly indicates that the Spanish company sought to profit from explosives production in Russia.