The Uzbek chemical plant Farg’onaazot supplies Russia with sodium chlorate — a sanctioned substance that is critical for producing Iskander-M ballistic missiles, Forbes reports, citing ESCU’s research.
The plant shipped $11.4 million worth of sodium chlorate to Russia in 2024 and another $6.9 million in the first half of 2025. According to ESCU, China supplied 61% of Russia's sodium chlorate imports while Uzbekistan provided 39%.
“If Uzbek and major Chinese suppliers were sanctioned, Russia would face difficult alternatives: smaller third country producers with less reliable supply, accelerated but years-away domestic production or attempting to redesign missile propulsion systems, a process requiring extensive testing that would degrade reliability and take years,” – emphasized Olena Yurchenko, Director for Analytics, Research, and Investigations at the Economic Security Council of Ukraine (ESCU), in a comment to Forbes.
While Farg’onaazot continues freely supplying Russia with chemicals critical for the production of Iskanders, the executive chairman of its parent company has family ties to the chairman of Ukraine’s largest steel plant — ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih.