JCB defends supplying Russia for months after saying it had stopped exports

Firm says any shipments sent to Russia after 2 March were due to ‘contractual obligations’

British digger maker JCB has admitted that some of its products were sent to Russia after saying it had stopped all exports because of the war in Ukraine.

The company said the equipment was sent via a third party due to “contractual obligations” but insisted that it has since “completely withdrawn” from Russia and closed a facility in Moscow.

The Guardian reported that Russian customs records showed that the firm, owned by the billionaire Bamford family - major donors to the Conservative Party - continued to make new products available for Russian dealers after 2 March 2022 - the date on which it said it had stopped.

The firm, which opened a factory in Russia in 2016, announced that it had “voluntarily paused” all operations in Russia.

The Guardian claims the disclosure casts doubt on the accuracy of JCB’s statements about its business in Russia and relationship with its biggest dealer in the country - Moscow-based Lonmadi, and that company’s former owner, UK-based JVM group.

JCB has repeatedly said that it stopped exporting products to Russia and JVM companies after 2 March 2022 – less than a week after Putin sent his troops to invade neighbouring Ukraine.

JCB says it has now ‘completely withdrawn’ from Russia (Reuters)

But customs records collated by a trade data provider, seen by The Guardian, reportedly show the serial numbers of dozens of vehicles, worth millions of pounds, which appear to have been supplied to companies in Russia after 2 March.

When approached for comment, JCB admitted that JVM continued to collect diggers from JCB’s factories months after the voluntary pause, but said this was due to contractual obligations.

JCB also confirmed that the manufacturing of some of the equipment continued after that date.

Lawyers for the firm told The Guardian: “Any collection of goods by a JVM company after 2 March 2022 was pursuant to contractual obligations already entered into and completed or substantially completed prior to that date.”

The firm also denied any inconsistency or inaccuracy in its public statements.

Lord Anthony Bamford, 78, is a close ally and financial backer of former prime minister Boris Johnson and he and his family have donated millions to the Tories. He was made a Conservative peer in 2013.

JCB was founded by Lord Bamford’s father, Joseph Cyril Bamford, and The Sunday Times Rich List 2023 said the family was worth £5.9bn.

Boris Johnson celebrated the launch of a new JCB Factory in Vadodara, Gujarat in 2022 (PA Wire)

According to this year’s list, the Bamford family fortune has risen to £7.65bn, putting them in 19th spot, up from 32 last year.

In 2022 JCB, based in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, had 22 factories and more than 750 dealers around the world.

Weeks after “pausing” work in Russia, on 22 March, the firm opened its newest factory in India as the company sought to “strengthen its global manufacturing presence”.

Mr Johson opened the factory and was joined by Lord Bamford, who led JCB’s expansion in India in the late 1970s, including the opening of its first factory in Ballabgarh, near Delhi.

JCB has six factories in India at locations including Jaipur and Pune. The company also has a presence in China.

In another case confirmed by JCB, the manufacture in China of a digger ordered by a smaller Russian dealer in 2021 was completed on 7 March 2022, five days after the voluntary ban.

A profile of Lord Bamford in The Independent, published in 2006, described him as “one of Britain’s leading power players, boasting celebrities, royals and politicians on all sides among his friends.” Sir Anthony was said to be on first-name terms with King Charles - then the Prince of Wales - who used his helicopter, as well as former prime ministers Tony Blair and David Cameron.

The family’s business dealings have come under scrutiny in recent months amid reports that Lord Bamford and his brother could be hit with £500m bill to settle an investigation by HM Revenue and Customs.

A JCB spokesperson told The Independent the firm has now “completely withdrawn from Russia, including shutting down its small assembly facility in Moscow resulting in many long standing and loyal colleagues in Russia being made redundant.”

“All of JCB’s concerted efforts have been to support its complete withdrawal from the Russian market. In a small number of cases… JCB products were collected by a third party company after 2 March 2022.

“Any such collection was pursuant to contractual obligations already entered into and completed or substantially completed prior to that date. To suggest otherwise is completely false.”