UK Export Licence for Armenian Firm with Russian Military Links Raises Alarm
Following Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which prompted extensive sanctions from the EU, US, UK and other nations, concerns have emerged regarding the robustness of British export controls. Specialists are sounding the alarm over a multimillion-pound contract that could see UK exports potentially aiding Russia's war machine through indirect channels.
Questionable Export Approval
The government faces mounting pressure to re-examine its decision to grant an export licence to British engineering company Cygnet Texkimp. The Cheshire-based firm manufactures sophisticated machinery that produces carbon fibre "prepreg" - a lightweight, durable material with both civilian and military applications. This equipment is currently undergoing final assembly in Northwich and could be exported within weeks to Rydena LLC, a newly established Armenian company.
Rydena was founded two years into Russia's invasion of Ukraine by former executives of Umatex, a division of Russia's state-owned nuclear energy company Rosatom that has been sanctioned by both the US and UK. The US Treasury described Umatex's carbon fibre production as "critical" for the Kremlin's war machine, noting its use in "almost all defence-related platforms including aircraft, ground combat vehicles, ballistic missiles, and military personal protection gear."
Sanctions Evasion Concerns
Armenia has been identified in government reports as one of several nations Moscow uses to procure "critical" military equipment indirectly, circumventing Western sanctions. Rydena's leadership includes multiple former Umatex executives: Dmitry Kogan, who served as second-in-command at Umatex during the first year of Russia's invasion; Alexander Shleynikov, former director of business development; and Aleksandr Ilichev, an award-winning aerospace composites scientist who headed Umatex's testing laboratory.
Olena Yurchenko, director for analysis, investigations and research at the Economic Security Council of Ukraine, emphasised the significance of these connections: "Anyone who worked there, particularly in a senior role, was a player in the Russian war machine. Sanctions restrictions and isolation from western technologies only reinforce Umatex's need for complex equipment import schemes - both to maintain existing capacities and to expand production to meet the growing needs of the military-industrial complex."
Inadequate Safeguards
Despite these concerning links being publicly available when Cygnet accepted the contract in February 2025, both the company and government have refused to confirm whether they were aware of the Umatex connection. Cygnet maintains it "undertook detailed end-user checks required by export controls and received full export approval" from the government, while Rydena insists it does no business with Russian clients.
Sanctions expert Anna Bradshaw warned that reliance on end-user undertakings provides limited protection against diversion to Russia: "There is a clear diversion risk and if the response is that this is mitigated by an end-user statement then that's very worrying. Everyone knows that an end-user undertaking is a limited remedy. If it's breached, the ship has sailed."
Cygnet has already sent technical drawings to Rydena as part of the design process and agreed to provide manuals translated into Russian, with export expected by April or early May.
Political Scrutiny Intensifies
Liam Byrne MP, chair of the House of Commons business committee, has expressed serious concerns: "There are a bunch of red flags here and the government has to explain what it did to assure itself that this was all fine. We're deeply concerned that the government's enforcement posture is not in the right place." Byrne is expected to write to the Department for Business and Trade to demand clarification about what officials knew regarding Rydena's connections to Umatex.
The export licence application process involves multiple government departments, including security services, yet a government spokesperson declined to comment on whether officials investigated the Umatex link. A DBT statement maintained that "the UK operates one of the most robust export control regimes anywhere in the world" and that all decisions follow "strict criteria."
Cygnet, an "export-led" business working with clients including McLaren, reported £18.7m in sales last year and was mentioned in the government's industrial strategy. Company owner Matthew Kimpton-Smith, a devout Christian who survived a cardiac arrest in 2016, donated £2,500 to the Conservative party in 2017 via his local MP Esther McVey's office.
As the machinery nears completion in Cheshire, questions persist about whether UK export controls are sufficiently rigorous to prevent British technology from indirectly supporting Russia's war effort through complex international supply chains.
