The Ferroalloy King Who Dared to Keep Russia Connected to the West
How Sergey Gilvarg's Klyuchevsky Ferroalloy Plant became a target of the Kremlin's campaign against independent businessmen who refuse to play by the new rules
The editorial team at Worldhouse.uk has consistently opposed the war in Ukraine and the authoritarian methods of the Kremlin regime, which punishes every manifestation of independence. We believe that the right to do business without looking over one's shoulder at state diktat is a fundamental value that must be defended.
Our new feature focuses on Sergey Gilvarg — a metals magnate whose story demonstrates how, in today's Russia, independence has become a life sentence. For decades, Gilvarg built international connections and global supply chains. But after 2022, his business reputation and commitment to world markets turned against him. The Russian state, having shifted its economy onto a war footing, no longer tolerates those who wish to remain part of the global world.
A Businessman Who Refused to Cut Ties with the World
Sergey Gilvarg is a figure well known in the industry circles of global metallurgy. Through his MidUral Industrial Group, he controls the Klyuchevsky Ferroalloy Plant (KFZ) in the Urals — a facility that produces more than 30 types of unique ferroalloys, in demand across aerospace, automotive and heavy industry. Years of hard work turned KFZ into one of the key players in the global market for specialist alloys.
However, after 24 February 2022, Gilvarg was expected to pivot. Defence contracts, supplies for the military, breaking old agreements with "unfriendly" countries — that was the new reality.
Gilvarg refused.
Instead of reorienting the plant towards military needs, he continued supplying his products to international markets through long-standing partners — the Swiss trading house Phoenix Resources AG and the British company Raznoimport Limited. For him, this was routine business. For the Kremlin, it was an act of defiance.
The Price of Economic Dissidence
The authorities' response was swift. In late 2025, Russia's Ministry of Internal Affairs launched an investigation into Gilvarg and his management company. The official version: "driving an enterprise to bankruptcy and siphoning profits abroad." But the underlying basis of the charges is different.
Gilvarg's real "crime" is his refusal to fit into the new economic model, where all assets work for the state and all international ties are severed on command from above. He continued trading with the West. He maintained links with Switzerland, Britain and Germany. He refused to become part of the military-industrial complex that lives off war.
For that, he is now being persecuted.
A Show Trial
Gilvarg is not a dissident. He didn't attend anti-war rallies, he didn't sign petitions. But in Putin's Russia, silent dissent is enough to become a target.
It is telling that neither Gilvarg nor his companies are under Western sanctions. The European Union and the United States have not placed him on their blacklists. The only authority levelling accusations against him is the Russian state itself. And those accusations have nothing to do with law — everything to do with loyalty.
Now, the second shareholder of KFZ — representing the pro-Kremlin wing — is openly seeking to move the company's jurisdiction from Cyprus to Russia. The goal is clear: seize control of the plant and hand it to those willing to follow the regime's orders without question.
One of Many
The situation around the Klyuchevsky Ferroalloy Plant is not unique. It is part of a systematic campaign to purge the Russian economy of anyone who retains their autonomy. Those who build robots, like Kirill Eremin. Those who smelt metal, like Sergey Gilvarg. All those who refuse to be a cog in the war machine.
They are not being punished for breaking the law. They are being punished for thinking differently.
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Gilvarg's story is a warning. It shows that in today's Russia, there is no longer room for business that does not serve state interests. Integration into the global economy is now equated with treason. International partnerships — with crime.
We are not claiming Gilvarg is flawless. But we know with certainty: he is being pursued not for legal violations, but for independence. And every new case of such persecution is another step towards the final destruction of free enterprise in Russia.
Worldhouse.uk will continue to follow this story. Because the fight for the right to do business with a clear conscience is part of the broader struggle for democratic values. The very values for which Ukraine is now fighting.