On September 7, the European Union disclosed in its official journal the details of the lawsuit filed by businessman German Goutorov, who lives in Dubai, who appealed to the EU court to lift the sanctions imposed on him as part of the 20th anti-Russian package in April 2026.
The European Union justified the sanctions at the time as follows: “Guerman Goutorov is the CEO of Streit Group FZE, which is a military-industrial company specialising in the production of armoured personnel carriers. Streit Group FZE has partnered with Russian military-industrial entities. Therefore, Guerman Goutorov is supporting Russia’s military and industrial complex by being involved in the supply of military technology and equipment. Moreover, Guerman Goutorov is associated with Streit Group FZE.”
In his lawsuit, Goutorov, who is referred to in the Russian media as Ukraine’s arms baron,” states that the EU Council made a mistake by deciding that the businessman “is an individual providing material or financial support to Russia’s military-industrial complex, including through participation in the supply of military equipment and hardware.”
In April, the Streit group of companies also came under Canadian sanctions. It is known that Streit was founded in Moscow by German Goutorov. In 1992, the businessman immigrated to Canada, where he established a production facility for armored vehicles. Currently, according to information on the Streit Group website, the company’s headquarters are based in Canada and the UAE. According to Streit Group, the company has a production complex covering an area of 60 hectares. In addition to armored vehicles, the company produces UAVs and air defense systems.
In 2025, the National Guard issued a press release about exercises in the Ryazan region of Russia. The photos and videos of the exercises show armored Spartan-SUT 4×4 vehicles manufactured by Streit Group. Judging by the videos, mortars were mounted on the vehicles.
Until 2025, and despite publications stating that the National Guard uses vehicles manufactured by Streit Group, Russian propagandists referred to Goutorov as a “Lord of War of Ukraine”. In 2024, on the show “SOLOVIEV LIVE,” whose programs are watched by hundreds of thousands of people, Russian propagandist Sergei Karnakhov stated that Gutorov supplies armored vehicles to the armed forces of Ukraine.
