JCB has admitted that some of its products were sent to Russia after initially stating it had stopped all exports due to the Ukraine war.

The company explained that these shipments occurred due to ‘contractual obligations’ but stated it has since ‘completely withdrawn’ from Russia and shut down a facility in Moscow.

Russian customs records, reported by The Guardian, showed that JCB, owned by the billionaire Bamford family – significant donors to the Conservative Party – continued to make new products available for Russian dealers after March 2, 2022, despite its public claims of halting exports. JCB, which opened a factory in Russia in 2016, had announced it ‘voluntarily paused’ all operations in Russia.

The Guardian’s report raises doubts about the accuracy of JCB’s statements regarding its business in Russia and its relationship with Moscow-based Lonmadi and the UK-based JVM group. Although JCB insisted it stopped exports to Russia and JVM companies after March 2, 2022, customs records allegedly show the serial numbers of vehicles worth millions of pounds supplied to Russian companies after that date.

JCB acknowledged that JVM continued collecting diggers from its factories months after the voluntary pause, assigning this to pre-existing contractual obligations. The company also confirmed that some equipment manufacturing continued post the stated halt date. JCB’s lawyers emphasised that any goods collected after March 2, 2022, were under contracts already established and mostly fulfilled before that date, denying any public statement inconsistencies.

Lord Anthony Bamford, 78, a prominent supporter of former prime minister Boris Johnson, and his family have donated millions to the Conservative Party. The Bamford family’s fortune, as per The Sunday Times Rich List 2024, is now £7.65bn, ranking them 19th in wealth.

In 2022, JCB, based in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, had 22 factories and over 750 dealers worldwide. The firm opened its latest factory in India on March 22, weeks after pausing work in Russia, to strengthen its global manufacturing presence. Boris Johnson inaugurated this facility alongside Lord Bamford.

JCB confirmed that a digger ordered by a smaller Russian dealer in 2021 was completed in China on March 7, 2022, after the voluntary ban. Amid scrutiny, JCB stated it has ‘completely withdrawn from Russia’, including shutting down its Moscow assembly facility, resulting in job losses for many longstanding employees.