Criticism of ammonia imports: The EU, Russia and the explosives industry

Exclusive criticism of ammonia imports The EU, Russia and the explosives industry As of: November 2nd, 2026 • 5:33 a.m

Despite all the sanctions, the EU imports Russian ammonia - legally due to a "EU special quota". According to SWR research, the companies involved have connections to oligarchs close to Putin and the explosives industry.

On October 5th, the tanker “Eco Sorcerer” reached the chemical port of Antwerp again. Film footage from SWR shows the ship docking in a port area shared by BASF and the EuroChem company. The tanker is fully loaded with more than 20,000 tons of Russian ammonia.

The tanker "Eco Sorcerer" transports Russian ammonia to Europe.

Ten days earlier it was fully loaded in the Russian port of Ust Luga at the Russian company EuroChem's terminal there. This is shown by satellite data that SWR reporters evaluated over several weeks. They also prove that these ammonia transports take place constantly.

Ammonia is traded worldwide as a raw material, primarily for fertilizer production. It is made from natural gas. This is an extremely lucrative business for Russia. While natural gas is increasingly being sanctioned, Russia has invested billions in expanding ammonia production and the necessary port facilities and transport routes.

The whole thing follows a plan drawn up in a strategy paper by the Russian Ministry of Energy in 2014. Accordingly, ammonia production should be massively increased by 2030.

“Russia is systematically trying to adapt to sanctions,” explains Benjamin Hilgenstock, sanctions expert at the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE). "In this case, Russia has the opportunity to indirectly export its energy resources and thereby generate revenue, even if direct exports are increasingly restricted."

Since these imports provide Russia with significant revenue, the EU Parliament actually wanted to stop this trade in 2025, according to a motion. But Russia-friendly MPs would repeatedly negotiate “painful compromises,” reports Luxembourg EU MP Isabel Wiseler-Lima (Christian Democrats) to SWR.

In the end, a “special quota” for Russian ammonia of an impressive 700,000 tons per year was approved. "These are compromises that very few people are happy about, at least not anyone who supports Ukraine. I absolutely support Ukraine. That cannot be satisfactory, absolutely not. We have to get into a situation where not a single cent goes to Russia."

The EU foreign ministers have approved new sanctions because of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. more

Research by SWR shows that the EU imports are carried out by a company with close ties to the Kremlin and the Russian military: EuroChem. The Russian company is one of the world's largest producers of raw materials for fertilizer production and has subsidiaries in Antwerp and also in Germany.

EuroChem founder Melnichenko is on the EU sanctions list - his company is not.

The founder of the company is a close confidant of Vladimir Putin, the oligarch and multi-billionaire Andrey Melnichenko. Shortly after the Russian attack in 2022, he was placed under EU sanctions. The justification states that Melnichenko is one of the most important oligarchs in Russia, supports Putin, the war against Ukraine and provides the country with important income.

While EuroChem founder Melnichenko is sanctioned, the company itself is still not. To do this, the oligarch quickly transferred his company shares worth several billion euros to his wife in 2022.

But he continues to appear in the Russian media as the person responsible for EuroChem, including in reports about the expansion of ammonia production at the Kingisepp plant near St. Petersburg. The raw material for the EU market is produced there.

Sanctions expert Hilgenstock from the KSE sees gaps in the sanctions regulations here: "If a company plays a key role in Russian arms production and at the same time can continue to do business legally with the EU, then the measures obviously do not go far enough. All companies that make a significant contribution to the Russian war economy should be sanctioned and all transactions with them banned."

The EU Commission left a query from SWR about EuroChem and EU sanctions unanswered by the time of going to press.

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Although this violates the current sanctions regulations, according to SWR information, Melnichenko is apparently still staying in Switzerland, at least temporarily. This emerges from a court service that is available to the SWR.

Accordingly, court documents were personally handed over to Melnichenko in St. Moritz at the end of 2025. Melnichenko owns a huge luxury chalet there in a prime location between ski slopes and 5-star hotels.

But further research into Melnichenko's company EuroChem yields even more explosive results. The company not only supplies the EU with ammonia, but also Russian military companies with nitric acid for explosives production.

Insiders from fertilizer production report to SWR that ammonia and saltpeter are produced in the same production facilities. EuroChem's financial reports show that the company supplies Russian munitions companies with nitric acid for explosives production.

The EU has imposed sanctions on 1,600 people and organizations over the war in Ukraine. more

A report from the Estonian secret service from spring 2026 makes it even clearer. According to this, EuroChem is not just any Russian company, but rather plays a key role in the production of raw materials for the Russian explosives industry.

The report on EuroChem literally states: "Any major disruption to production at these plants - be it technical or economic in nature - would most likely lead to serious disruptions throughout the Russian ammunition manufacturing supply chain."

The Russian headquarters of EuroChem left a list of questions from the SWR unanswered.

The fact that the EU continues to allow raw materials from such a company is unacceptable for EU MEP Isabel Wiseler-Lima: "This is absolutely indefensible. We know that Russia is a war economy [...] and we really need to isolate ourselves from the Russian economy as quickly as possible. In all areas."

Sanctions expert Benjamin Hilgenstock adds: "Any trade with Russia that is not absolutely necessary should be ended - in order to weaken Russia's position, but also to reduce economic dependencies in Europe."

This topic in the program: tagesschau.de | Criticism of Russian ammonia imports into the EU | 11/02/2026 | 05:29