Italian metallurgical equipment maker Danieli told The Insider two years ago that it had fully left the Russian market. However, that turned out not to be true. In 2025, the company was still selling products to Russian steelmakers, both directly and through a Russian subsidiary that it claimed was “no longer controlled” by the European parent company.
Danieli is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of blast furnaces, forging presses, and rolling mills. In 2024, The Insider looked into the company’s continuing business in and around Russia. At the time, Danieli insisted it had fully left the Russian market, saying it no longer controlled its former subsidiary and that earlier contracts had been canceled, causing the company losses.
The Insider reviewed customs data and found that in 2025 Danieli imported spare parts into Russia for repairing steel rolling mills, for a gas-cleaning installation area, and for an electric steelmaking production section that included a vacuum degasser bag filter housing, a support roller centering device, bearing replacement devices for a breakdown stand, and an oscillating table stand.
The goods were received by the Balakovo metallurgical plant in the Saratov Region and by Danieli’s own subsidiary, Danieli Volga LLC, in Dzerzhinsk in the Nizhny Novgorod Region. The deliveries were made directly by Danieli subsidiaries controlled by the parent company: Danieli Metallurgical Equipment and Service Co. Ltd. in China and Danieli Co. Ltd. in Thailand. In all, $1.6 million worth of equipment was imported into Russia.
The business activities of several other European companies investigated by The Insider have followed the same pattern: announcing their departure from Russia while continuing to do business in the country. They include Germany’s Gühring, Italy’s Beretta, and the German-Japanese holding DMG.
The Insider sent Danieli a request for comment.
