Belgian ammunition in Russia thanks to a Walloon arms company that has never broken contacts? | War Ukraine and Russia

The French-speaking public broadcaster RTBF has been able to get its hands on an audit that the German branch of KPMG made a year ago about the weapons company New Lachaussée (NLC). The investigation into the Herstal-based company, which makes ammunition production machines, started in May 2022 and immediately revealed problematic elements, but six weeks later NLC’s German parent company decided to end the assignment.

The report ended up with RTBF via a whistleblower. According to the person directly involved in the audit, NLC has never broken off its contacts with Russian companies, despite the introduction of the arms embargo against Russia in 2014. During the investigation, the KPMG auditors also considered Serbia, which would serve as an intermediate station. NLC signed contracts there with companies related to the state-owned Yugoimport for the installation of two production lines for Russian caliber ammunition.

In a response to RTBF, NLC states that the company has had “no trade relations with organizations active in the armaments industry in Russia”. NLC further points out that “the product from the production lines in Serbia is intended for internal use and for export, in accordance with international standards that companies on Serbian territory must respect”.

Wallonia owns 20 percent of NLC’s capital. Walloon Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo (PS) therefore demands full clarification of the matter and has therefore preventively suspended the current admission procedures for the export of the Liège company New Lachaussée to Serbia, his cabinet learned on Tuesday.