Romanian prosecutors detain USR official in €1.75 million military machinery export to Belarus
Romanian anti-organized crime prosecutors detained Alexandru Munteanu, vice president of USR Dâmbovița, over the alleged transfer of a €1.75 million dual-use lathe to a sanctioned Belarusian military manufacturer via front companies in Germany and Kazakhstan.
Investigation and detentions
On October 1, 2026, prosecutors from the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) detained Alexandru Munteanu and commercial director Evgheni Polyakov. Munteanu serves as vice president of the Dâmbovița county branch of the Save Romania Union (USR) and as an elected local councillor in the city of Târgoviște. The detentions followed 12 search warrants executed on September 30, 2026, by DIICOT prosecutors and police officers from the Directorate for Combating Organized Crime across Bucharest, Dâmbovița, Bacău, and Ilfov. Investigators questioned eight suspects in the inquiry, including two additional Moldovan nationals and a Russian citizen who formerly served as commercial director. Judicial sources identified other investigated figures as Simona Elena Palade, Vitalie Cărăuș, Dumitru Melinschi, Claudiu Lucian Țărucă, Gabriel Unguru, and Mihai Doroftei.
Dual-use machinery transfer
Investigators established that the suspects conducted commercial and technical operations between December 2025 and September 2026. Munteanu acted as shareholder, administrator, and general manager of the manufacturing company World Machinery Works SRL. The central focus of the investigation is a multi-axis vertical industrial lathe of the VL40 model, valued at approximately 1.75 million euros. Originally built for civilian manufacturing, the equipment received specialized software and hardware modifications, alongside adjusted technical parameters, to allow the production of military hardware. Specialized assessments indicate the adapted lathe is capable of machining components for artillery shells, ballistic missiles, ballistic armor systems, and tank turrets. Investigators located the heavy machinery in Germany as it traveled through transit routes designed to hide its ultimate destination using front companies in Germany and Kazakhstan.
- The European Union places sanctions on Belarusian entity BELAZ under Implementing Regulation 2022/300
- Romania passes Law 224/2025 to increase criminal penalties for international sanctions violations
- Suspects conduct technical adjustments and commercial operations to transfer the VL40 lathe
- DIICOT executes 12 search warrants across Bucharest and three counties, questioning eight suspects
- Alexandru Munteanu and Evgheni Polyakov are detained following interrogations
Embargo evasion and regulatory rejections
The planned final recipient of the machinery was KUZLITMASH OAO, an industrial entity operating under the Belarusian automotive holding BELAZ OJSC in Zhodino, located in the Minsk region. BELAZ has been subject to European Union restrictive sanctions under Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/300 following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. The export control department ANCEX within the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs had previously rejected authorization requests for the lathe due to explicit risks that the cargo would be diverted to unauthorized end users. Despite these regulatory prohibitions, the suspects continued export arrangements through intermediary companies in third countries.
Din cercetările efectuate până în prezent a rezultat că, în perioada decembrie 2025 - septembrie 2026, mai multe persoane ar fi desfășurat activități comerciale și tehnice având ca obiect fabricarea, comercializarea și transferul unor utilaje industriale cu dublă utilizare, susceptibile să fie folosite atât în scopuri civile, cât și pentru fabricarea unor echipamente cu destinație militară.
Political reactions and legal framework
Following the detention of Munteanu, who holds dual Romanian and Moldovan citizenship, the USR leadership issued a formal statement on his party status. Party representatives confirmed that Munteanu remains a suspect in the ongoing criminal case and faces statutory measures up to expulsion if the allegations are confirmed. The party noted that Foreign Minister Oana Toiu initiated Law 224/2025, which amended Government Emergency Ordinance 202/2008 to reclassify international sanctions violations from administrative offenses into severe crimes.
Alexandru Munteanu este consilier local la Târgoviște și vicepreședinte USR Dâmbovița. Are dublă cetățenie: română și moldovenească. Dacă se confirmă acuzațiile pe care i le aduce DIICOT, i se vor aplica prevederile statutare, mergând până la excluderea din USR.
