A Rolls-Royce turbine is displayed at the Microsoft booth at the Hanover Fair in Germany, 30 March 2025. Photo: EPA-EFE/HANNIBAL HANSCHKE

Aerospace giants Boeing and Rolls-Royce have hired lobbyists to try to prevent the US Congress from introducing further sanctions against Russia, Novaya Gazeta Europe has discovered after analysing the information published on the US House of Representatives’ lobbying disclosure website.

In the first quarter of 2025, Boeing spent $2.6 million (€2.3 million) on lobbying services, while Rolls-Royce spent $250,000 (€225,000), though the exact portion of this sum going towards Russia-related lobbying is not known.

Both companies’ manufacturing processes greatly depend on the supply of titanium from Russia. Prior to February 2022, Boeing received about a third of the titanium it requires to manufacture aircraft from Russia, while Rolls-Royce received around 20%.

After the launch of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Boeing refused to buy titanium from Russian producer VSMPO-AVISMA, but, according to a 2024 investigation by The Washington Post, began to obtain it through intermediary suppliers. Rolls-Royce claimed to have stopped purchasing Russian titanium, but, in fact, has continued to do so, the Washington Post reported.

Though it is still currently possible to import titanium and other metals from Russia, the Biden administration reportedly proposed a joint sanctions package to G7 countries in October that would target these exports. Previously, in September 2023, the US Department of Commerce included VSMPO-AVISMA on a list of organisations subject to export restrictions, meaning American companies had to obtain special licences to continue trading with it.

In addition, several nuclear energy companies, including the Uranium Energy Corporation and Terrapower, have hired lobbyists in Congress, demanding a relaxation of the November ban on US imports of Russian uranium. Before the restrictions were imposed, Russia was the main foreign supplier of uranium for American nuclear power plants, providing about 20% of the enriched uranium used nationally.

VSMPO-AVISMA, a Urals-based metallurgical company, is the world’s largest titanium producer, accounting for some 30% of global production. It supplies global aerospace giants, including Airbus, Brazil’s Embraer, and France’s Safran, as well as Boeing and Rolls-Royce.

In February, amid rumours of Boeing’s possible return to Russia, VSMPO-AVISMA shares rose by 30%, Kommersant reported. Rostec, a Russian state-owned defence conglomerate, owns 25% of the company.

Meanwhile, VSMPO-AVISMA’s controlling shareholder is Mikhail Shelkov, a pro-Kremlin oligarch who has not been sanctioned by the US or the EU despite being included on the Anti-Corruption Foundation’s List of War Enablers, an initiative aimed to gather the names of people who should be subject to sanctions for supporting and aiding the Russian war effort.