President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on the transfer of shares of CJSC "Klimovsk Specialized Ammunition Plant" (KSPZ) to the Rostec State Corporation as a property contribution on September 30. According to the document, Rostec will receive a 63.4% stake in the enterprise, and the government must formalize and complete this transfer of shares in the next 18 months.
The state corporation commented on the decree of the head of state and the actions of the former shareholders of KSPZ.
This is an expected decision. We spoke about our readiness to take the Klimovsk Ammunition Plant under our control back last winter, when private owners brought the situation to a communal disaster and a social explosion. Firstly, at that time we already owned part of the plant's shares, but faced opposition from private individuals who had a majority stake. Secondly, this is a defense asset of strategic importance for the country. Its owners failed to cope with their responsibility and their actions caused harm to the state. Such stories – with criminally negligent attitude to their duties – must be severely suppressed, which is what the state did. This is a very indicative and instructive example of what happens when business is concerned about money and does not think about the interests of people and the country, especially in such a difficult moment for Russia.
KSPZ was established in the late 1930s on the basis of the Novopodolsk Ammunition Plant (later the Klimovsk Stamping Plant). In 2008, the enterprise was named after the former General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Yuri Andropov. The plant produces a wide range of strategically important products: automatic and pistol cartridges of 7.62 and 9 mm caliber, cartridges for underwater shooting weapons, construction, sports, hunting and pneumatic bullets. But for many years it was in private hands.
The fact that the ammunition plant would be nationalized by Putin's decision became known in January 2024 after an accident at the boiler room located on its territory. Due to unqualified personnel in the boiler room, 173 Podolsk high-rise buildings were left without heat and hot water in the January frosts. At this time, the state corporation appealed to the head of state with a request to transfer this asset to them. At the time of the accident, Rostec had about 30% of KSPZ shares, the remaining shares of the defense enterprise belonged to private individuals. In May 2024, by a court decision, the Klimovsk Ammunition Plant passed into state ownership.
Read materials on the topic:
Five at a time at 360 degrees: "Msta-S" became the best Russian self-propelled gun
New Russian combat exoskeleton "Khamari Medoed 2.0" — what is known about it
Putin: Russia has significantly increased the production of particularly demanded weapons