An armoured vehicle manufactured by Streit Group in the Sudan armed forces, deployed in Khartoum in July, 2019.Geoffrey York/The Globe and Mail
Guerman Goutorov, a Canadian businessman who operates an armoured vehicle manufacturing company, has been hit with sanctions by the European Union for allegedly helping Russia in its war on Ukraine.
The Canadian government, however, has not penalized or sanctioned Mr. Goutorov or his company, which is headquartered in the United Arab Emirates, though Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand’s spokesperson told The Globe and Mail the minister has sought “further advice” from her department.
Mr. Goutorov was named in a round of sanctions that were announced by the EU on April 23. Additionally, his company Streit Group – which has been repeatedly accused of selling military vehicles to repressive regimes – was placed under a separate set of EU sanctions last October.
Mr. Goutorov originally founded Streit Group in Canada in 1992. While the company has since moved its headquarters to the UAE, it started as Streit Manufacturing in Ontario in the early 1990s, initially in a Toronto-area garage.
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Mr. Goutorov is a Canadian citizen and may also still hold Russian citizenship. A Russian state-controlled media report in 2024 said it could find no evidence that Mr. Goutorov had renounced his Russian citizenship. According to the media outlet, he is from Russia’s Sverdlovsk region.
The Canadian government has not said why Ottawa has not imposed sanctions on Mr. Goutorov’s UAE company, or why it has not imposed penalties on Mr. Goutorov himself.
Thida Ith, a spokesperson for the Department of Global Affairs, said only that “we are constantly evaluating our sanctions list to continue to put pressure on Russia.”
A spokesperson for Ms. Anand later added that the minister is “reviewing Canadian law underlying the sanctions regime relating to Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine to ensure that it is operating at maximum efficacy.” Press secretary Myah Tomasi said Ms. Anand “has requested her department provide further advice.”
She added that Canada has already “sanctioned over 4,000 individuals and entities associated with the Russian regime.”
The EU sanctions accuse Mr. Goutorov of “supporting Russia’s military and industrial complex by being involved in the supply of military technology and equipment.”
Mr. Goutorov has also been accused by Russian state media in the past of providing the Ukrainian military with equipment.
Streit Group did not immediately respond to requests for comment sent to its sales and compliance departments in the UAE.
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The company in January launched an appeal of its placement on the European Union’s sanctions list, arguing the bloc got the facts wrong and violated the company’s legal rights. Law firm Acquis, which is acting for Streit, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The EU alleged in sanctions targeting Streit last October that the company “has manufacturing operations in Russia, and has partnered with Russian military-industrial entities,” and therefore is “supporting Russia’s military and industrial complex, including by being involved in the supply of military technology and equipment.”
In its appeal, Streit denies those allegations and raises four grounds of challenge, including that the Council of the EU – the decision-making body that imposes sanctions – made a factual error in its assessment; that it failed to prove its case; and that the sanctions violated the company’s rights under the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, such as its right of defence and freedom to conduct business.
The EU sanctions against Streit Group were imposed shortly after photographs were posted to the Telegram channel of a Ukrainian war monitor group that appeared to show Russia’s National Guard was operating at least three Streit Group-produced Spartan SUT armoured personnel carriers.
While models of the Spartan SUT advertised on the Streit Group’s website are shown in desert brown, the ones employed by the National Guard had been painted in forest camouflage, according to the photographs, and equipped with metal anti-drone screens welded to the top of the vehicles.
While the National Guard is an internal security force, the anti-drone screens suggested the vehicles were to be deployed in or near Ukraine, where drones now dominate the battlefield. Russia claims to have annexed five regions of Ukraine, and the National Guard has been deployed into occupied areas of Ukraine as a police and anti-insurgency force.
Another video, posted in 2024 by a Russian pro-war Telegram channel, appeared to show that the Russian military was in possession of at least 20 Streit Group-produced vehicles, including versions of its Cougar and Cobra light armoured vehicles.
Danylo Korbabicz, executive director of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, a lobby group, said Ottawa needs to step up enforcement of existing sanctions rules that prohibit Canadian citizens from selling weapons to Russia.
“The Government of Canada should dedicate more resources to the investigation of violations of Canadian export law and enforcement of these laws,” Mr. Korbabicz said. “This case underscores yet again why a full trade embargo and listing Russia as a terrorist state is long overdue.”
Another Streit Group product – the Predator riot control vehicle, which is mounted with a water cannon – became infamous in 2020 when Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko deployed the vehicles to crack down on protesters who believed Mr. Lukashenko had lost a presidential election to challenger Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.
Franak Viacorka, chief adviser to Ms. Tsikhanouskaya, told The Globe that any action against Mr. Goutorov and Streit Group was welcome.
“Co-operating with the military machinery of Lukashenko and Putin is a crime in itself. Those who supply the regime with equipment and vehicles that are then used for repression must face sanctions,” Mr. Viacorka said. “This is also about creating the right incentives for others: Do not help tyrants.”
Streit Group appears to have clients of all kinds, however.
A 2024 article published on the Russian-language website of RT, one of the Kremlin’s main propaganda arms, accused Mr. Goutorov of selling US$100-million worth of “replicas of American armoured vehicles” to the Ukrainian military.
The report suggested that Mr. Goutorov could be charged with treason since he had never renounced his Russian passport.
Over the past decade, The Globe has documented how Streit sold dozens of armoured vehicles to Libya, Sudan and South Sudan, despite international bans on arms sales to those countries.
As The Globe reported in 2025, armoured vehicles from Streit Group were deployed in military offensives by the Rapid Support Forces, the paramilitary group that has massacred thousands of civilians in the Darfur region of Sudan.
William Pellerin, partner with McMillan LLP’s international trade group, said Ottawa could impose sanctions on Mr. Goutorov’s UAE company if it chose but would “run into significant issues” trying to levy sanctions on him as a Canadian citizen.