The war launched by Russia against Ukraine has demonstrated the importance of the ability to increase the production of sufficient ammunition for artillery, unmanned systems, and aviation. Ukrainian troops occasionally face shell shortages due to the inability of the Ukrainian defense industry and partner countries to ensure the production of shells. At the same time, Russia has managed to increase its own production several times, but not without external assistance.
An important component for the production of ammunition is smokeless powder, which is mainly obtained on the basis of nitrocellulose. It is also called nitropowder. Explosives based on cellulose nitrate are used in firearms and artillery, in solid-propellant rocket engines.
Before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops, Russia met the needs of the defense industry in nitrocellulose through its own production and imports of cotton cellulose from Uzbekistan. However, since 2022, imported supplies of nitrocellulose have increased by 70%, and in 2023 this figure has more than doubled. According to estimates by “The Moscow Times”, the volume of nitrocellulose imports to Russia in 2023 increased 11 times compared to 2021.
Experts from the “Laboratory of Research and Information Analysis” analyzed the sources and routes of nitrocellulose supplies to Russia in 2024. Uzbekistan remains one of the key suppliers of cotton cellulose and nitrocellulose for the Russian defense industry. The key partner of the Russian defense industry in Uzbekistan remains the business structure of Uzbek billionaire Rustam Muminov. His companies continued to send cotton pulp to Russian gunpowder factories through intermediary structures at the beginning of 2024.
In particular, in January 2024, LLC "FARGONA KIMYO ZAVODI", which is owned by Rustam Muminov through LLC "MERCURY RENAISSANCE", supplied the Russian enterprise "Aleksinskiye Kraski Ural" with a little more than 244 tons of cotton pulp, and the company "Lenahim" with 349 tons of cotton pulp. In addition, the Uzbek company "RAW MATERIALS CELLULOSE", owned by Rustam Muminov through Larisa Utkina, supplied 107,769 tons and 63,294 tons of cotton pulp to the Russian LLC "LENAKHIM" and LLC "CHEMTRADE", respectively. It is worth noting that in 2022, "RAW MATERIALS CELLULOSE" directly supplied 253 tons of cotton pulp to the "Tambov Gunpowder Plant".
Among the major suppliers of Uzbek cotton to the Russian Federation is also the company of businessmen Murat and Solijon Gafurov, LLC "BAXTTEKS-FARM", which, despite US sanctions, supplied the Russian "NAVIMAX GROUP" with 338 tons of cotton pulp for a total of 604.48 thousand US dollars up to and including May 2024. This raw material probably went to the "Solikamsky Plant Ural", with which "NAVIMAX GROUP" has close economic ties.
In addition to Uzbek cellulose, Russia is trying to establish bypass routes for the purchase of Taiwanese nitrocellulose. For this purpose, intermediary companies in Turkey are used, both with Turkish and Russian investments.
For example, in 2023, the Russian defense industry involved the owner of Russian logistics companies Shachenok Darya Aleksandrovna in the purchase of nitrocellulose from Taiwanese and Indonesian manufacturers. In Russia, she owns the companies AM Logistics LLC and Auto Management LLC (AM LLC). In 2022, Shachenok registers the company SLD LOJİSTİK İÇ VE DIŞ TİCARET LİMİTED ŞİRKETİ in Turkey, which during 2023 purchased from the Taiwanese T.N.C. INDUSTRIAL CO and the Indonesian PT. INDOCERA UTAMA PRECISI» producers of almost 100 tons of nitrocellulose with a total value of 296.25 thousand US dollars. The raw materials were transported via Istanbul to Russia.
Also, Taiwanese nitrocellulose was purchased by the Turkish company AZIA EXIM TRADE LLC, which, through the logistics companies IFF LOJISTIK HIZMETLERI ANONIIM SIRKETI and OLIMPIK GAMA IC VE DIS TICARET SANAYI LIMITED SIRKETI, supplied 184 tons of unplasticized nitrocellulose to the Russian AMS GROUP in 2023 and 2024.
Given that the proportion of nitrocellulose in the mass of finished smokeless powder is 60% and based on data from 2023, it can be calculated that 6.6 thousand tons of gunpowder can be produced from 4 thousand tons of nitrocellulose. In an artillery shell, the charge mass is about 20 kilograms. Thus, from 4,000 tons of nitrocellulose, about 700,000 shells can be produced per year.
