Russia Business
(c) PREMIUM-GRUPPE GmbH 2026, Welt, By Jan Dams
The Russian business of the prosthetics manufacturer Ottobock is growing significantly, also and especially after the attack on Ukraine. The company denies supplying the military upon request. In view of the war, there are several decisive questions for Ottobock.
That pictures sometimes say more than a thousand words may be a tired phrase. Nevertheless, it is not always wrong. For example, on the Kremlin’s website in a photo series from December 5, 2017, there are two pictures showing Oliver Jakobi. The CEO of Ottobock, at that time still head of the Russian business, sits to the left of Russian President Vladimir Putin – separated only by Olga Golodets, at that time still Deputy Russian Prime Minister.
The appointment on the “Day of the Volunteer” at the Russian State Specialized Academy of Arts, a university for students with disabilities, is about prostheses and aids. According to the Kremlin’s transcript, Putin opens the round and tells what has been done to remove barriers. Jakobi, in his role as a guest, thanks for the support of the past years and talks in detail about necessary improvements. So far, so good – had Russia not already annexed Crimea a good three and a half years earlier.
The picture fits the development of the German prosthetics manufacturer in Russia in recent years. After Russia’s attack on Ukraine, turnover initially fell. But then it rose from just under 75 million euros in 2022 to about 109 million euros for the year 2024, as can be seen from the IPO details. In the first half of last year, it was around 71 million euros for just six months. Unlike other German companies, the prosthetics manufacturer is doing good business in Russia.
Ottobock, however, denies that this has anything to do with Russia’s war in Ukraine. The company classifies even the picture from December 2017 upon request as follows: “You are alluding to an industry meeting in 2017, attended by more than 40 representatives of market participants,” says a response to a written request from WELT AM SONNTAG. “It was about improving the quality of care for civilian patients.” The “long-standing close relationships claimed by you” could not be derived from this. “The one-time industry meeting has no influence on our current trade relations.”
“Market participants” in uniform
Ottobock has been responding to inquiries from this newspaper about its own Russian business for some time only in writing, if they are made in writing, and also not always. But one thing can be said about both pictures: To the right of Oliver Jakobi sit mainly government representatives of Russia. The people on the side opposite Putin and Jakobi, on the other hand, are obviously at least largely wheelchair users, including a man in uniform. Of course, one can also call them market participants.
In view of the Russian war, there are several decisive questions for Ottobock: Is the company possibly violating international sanctions? And even if the company is formally doing everything right, does it sufficiently control in daily business that its products do not go to military institutions, suppliers or disabled soldiers or ex-soldiers?
In a suspicious activity report against Ottobock dated August 22 of last year to the Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control (Bafa), which WELT AM SONNTAG has seen, it says: “There are concrete indications that Ottobock SE and Otto Bock Manufacturing exported several hundred goods sanctioned under the Russia sanctions of the European Union to OOO Otto Bock Service or OOO Mobility in the period between January 2023 and October 2024 and consequently violated the Russia sanctions.”
Furthermore, there are concrete indications that “deliveries to Ottobock-RUS were at least partially also intended for military purposes or military end users, that any exceptions under Regulation (EU) 833/2014 are excluded.”
Ottobock wrote in mid-November upon request: “We are not aware of a suspicious activity report pursuant to Section 6b of Regulation (EU) No. 833/2014 to the Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control.” In the middle of this week, the company expressed itself similarly again. Bafa itself did not comment on the information. However, there is a second official source that confirmed the receipt of this suspicious activity report upon request. However, no consequences are known so far.
Essentially, it is only about one question: Did Ottobock supply Russia with prostheses, prosthesis parts and machines for their adjustment beyond the permitted extent? And has the company done everything necessary to exclude such risks?
Caution in the IPO prospectus
In the IPO prospectus of September 29, 2025, Ottobock argues as follows: “In Russia, our business activities are limited to the distribution of prostheses, orthoses, components, wheelchairs and consumables for civilian patient care, the assembly and sale of wheelchairs for civilian purposes as well as the individual adjustment of medical aids in orthopedic workshops for civilian patients.”
Furthermore, it states: “In the case of a delivery to an external clinic or workshop of a third-party provider, we check the respective institution against the aforementioned sanctions lists. In addition, we do not supply products to clinics or workshops that are connected to the military, paramilitary units, the police or the intelligence services.”
Due to the nature of this business, however, Ottobock does not know the patients who are treated in the facilities of third-party providers, it continues. The company has no legal or practical means available to verify the use of the products in these civilian facilities or to determine it otherwise. “For this reason, we cannot completely rule out that certain of our products are also used in these facilities for the treatment of war invalids or veterans.”
Observers, however, point to another sentence in the prospectus: “Our participation is limited to tenders in the civilian sector for the supply of medical devices to the civilian population. Our contractual partner in tender procedures in Russia is the Russian Social Insurance Fund.” But this, according to experts on the country’s conditions today, is not an independent organization that is purely limited to civilian patients, but is functionally and administratively assigned to the Russian Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.
The needs of the war wounded, in turn, are registered via the Ministry of Defense with the Ministry of Labor, experts describe the situation in Russia. “Procurement takes place via social insurance and social fund structures, while care takes place in military and rehabilitation facilities.” Screenshots of websites of the Social Fund and the Ministry of Labor, which are available to this newspaper, prove the connection.
Demobilized ex-soldiers
Ottobock argues upon request as follows: “The costs of individual care are covered by a cost bearer. In the case of civilians, this is the Social Fund, with which we have contracts. In the case of military personnel (whom we do not supply), the military or the responsible authority covers the costs.” What the company does not mention: Demobilized ex-soldiers are indeed billed via the fund. This is not a secret.
Overall, the company is more cautious with its statements in the IPO prospectus than in the later answers from Ottobock’s press department: In them, the company retreats primarily to formal questions: “In the case of military personnel (whom we do not supply), the military or the responsible authority covers the costs.” This answer apparently only includes active military personnel.
That in the case of wounded former soldiers who need prostheses, it is also the fund, Ottobock does not mention. “Furthermore, we do not participate in tenders in connection with the military, paramilitary, the police or the intelligence services,” the company continues to write. Again, it does not address the fact that such tenders also run via the SVR.
Ottobock denies benefiting from the war in Ukraine. At the same time, a look at its own IPO prospectus shows that the company cannot rule out the use of its products by war disabled or veterans who are no longer in military service. In the answers to this newspaper, however, the company argues more narrowly – via cost bearers, responsibilities and formal delimitations.
CEO Jakobi, who was operationally active in Russia until 2020 and formally led the business of OOO Otto Bock Service until 2022, should know what the billing structures really are.