Ukraine puts U.S. company on war sponsors list amid kamikaze drone production inquiry

This was reported by the NACP press service, Ukrinform saw.

According to the agency, the company is represented in Russia by Allied Mineral Products Rus LLC.

In 2022, the manufacturer paid $772,000 in taxes to the Russian budget and imported products worth a total of $3.5 million since April 2022.

The production facilities operated by the subsidiary of Allied Mineral Products, LLC in Russia are located in the special economic zone, Alabuga, (Tatarstan), a cluster where Russia produces Shahed-136 one-way attack drones.

"Established in 2006 with highly favorable conditions for investors, Alabuga offers an income tax rate of 2% instead of 20% and exemption from property tax. It has become the main investment project in Tatarstan, accounting for 74% of direct investment in the republic. Alabuga provides a convenient platform for numerous foreign companies operating in Russia," the agency noted.

NACP added that after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, some Western companies began to withdraw from Alabuga, and highly qualified personnel resigned to avoid military draft. This forced the management of Alabuga to start the process of transforming the free economic zone into a cluster for the production of military products, which provides guarantees of receiving "reservation" from mobilization.

Accordingly, any enterprise within Alabuga could potentially be involved in the production of military products or materials for them.

The inquiry run by the Molfar OSINT community says the presence of the American manufacturer in Alabuga and regular deliveries of goods to the region also play a key role in supporting production processes in the area.

Since the outset of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Allied Mineral Products Rus has imported 13 tons of products (402 transactions), some of which can be used to produce drones.

In particular, mullite appears among the goods, which is both for the production of refractory materials and for the production of mullite ceramics, which has low dielectric constant, low coefficient of thermal expansion and good strength. It is suitable for use in high-speed microelectronics chips.

"Allied Mineral Products continues to operate in the territory of the terrorist state of Russia, where it supports the functioning of the Alabuga Special Economic Zone, which has already become a key location for the production of military products for the aggressor," concluded the NACP.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, in January, the Ukrainian watchdog put the American-Swedish industrial firm Elektriska Svetsnings-Aktiebolaget (ESAB) on the list of international war sponsors.