Uzbek, Russian, and UK national Rustam Muminov, owner of Fargona Kime Zavodu MChJ (Fergana Chemical Plant), has been subjected to EU sanctions. He oversees roughly 85% of Uzbekistan’s cotton cellulose exports to Russia, which are used in the manufacture of gunpowder and ammunition.
In 2022, companies from Uzbekistan supplied cellulose worth $5 million. In the first nine months of 2023, this figure reached $8.7 million, which is nearly 70 times more than in 2021.
In the list of sanctioned entities on the Ukrainian side, three companies from Uzbekistan are included:
- Mercury Renaissance, its subsidiary Fergana Chemical Plant for the production of cotton cellulose, and Raw Materials Cellulose.
- Mercury Renaissance and its subsidiary are owned by Rustam Muminov and Shakhriyor Tajiev.
- Raw Materials Cellulose — Larisa Utkina and Larisa Bykova.
The export of Raw Materials Cellulose products to Russia ceased at the end of 2024 and has not resumed. Rustam Muminov’s name disappeared from the list of founders of another company — Mercury Renaissance, and the company itself was re-registered on June 10, 2025, a month after Ukraine imposed sanctions. Muminov "controls about 85% of the export of cotton cellulose from Uzbekistan to Russia" and has built a significant business empire based on these critically important supplies.
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In the second half of 2024 and throughout 2025, Uzbek companies increased their sales to Russia of cotton fiber instead of cellulose. Specifically, according to customs data, in 2024, the country sold cotton fiber to Russia worth approximately $9.8 million under the HS code 5601219000. This is a new way to circumvent European sanctions. The fiber is not yet cellulose, but it is a very similar product. To convert it into cellulose, cotton fiber must be purified of fat, wax, lignin, and proteins. Uzbek companies, as before, sell cotton in the form of cellulose suitable for Russian gunpowder factories, but now under a different labeling.
One of the major exporters of Uzbek cotton fiber to Russia in 2024 was the company Gelion Business Trade.
Most analysts believe that Muminov is likely a minor figure in Uzbekistan’s business environment, a small representative of a vast business empire linked to Russia.
