Too many alarming episodes have accumulated around the key enterprise of the Russian defense industry and the main tank manufacturer, Uralvagonzavod (UVZ, part of the Rostec Group) in Nizhny Tagil, in recent months to ignore them. "Pervy Technicheskiy" has compiled in one article the key events that together form an ambiguous picture of what is happening around the enterprise.
Abbreviation
In the fall of 2025, media reports appeared about the transfer of part of the civilian segment of UVZ to a four-day work week. Then Telegram channels and the media began talking about possible layoffs — from 10% of the staff to much more radical figures.
The management of the plant called such publications misinformation. The director of UVZ, Vladimir Roshchupkin, stated that the enterprise, on the contrary, needs about two thousand employees.
Courts
In early November, the Supreme Court ordered Uralvagonzavod to return 106 million rubles and a 10 million fine on a claim from the Ministry of Industry and Trade. The plant did not fulfill the terms of the subsidy for funds allocated in 2015 for the development of five "world-class technologies" and new equipment samples.
In addition, six lawsuits against Uralvagonzavod for 350 million rubles were filed by the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK). One of them, for 78 million rubles, has been left without movement for the time being, and two more lawsuits for 171 million rubles will be considered by the Arbitration Court.
The fate of the remaining three has not yet been decided. At the same time, since the beginning of 2025, MMK has filed more than 30 lawsuits against UVZ for a total amount of 1.4 billion rubles.
Inspections
Various government bodies are also paying special attention to Uralvagonzavod. For example, the Ural Interregional Department of Rosprirodnadzor initiated an unscheduled on-site inspection of UVZ. The inspection began on November 24 and was supposed to last until December 5.
Nevertheless, UVZ continues to work intensively — it supplies modernized TOS-1A "Solntsepek", BMPT "Terminator", updated T-80BVM tanks and other popular weapons. The contrast between the workload and what is happening around the enterprise is becoming more and more stark.