Vietnamese state institutions, businesses and workers help produce Russian military uniforms

In June 2026, a state employment centre in Vietnam’s Cà Mau province announced recruitment of sewing workers for jobs producing defence-related goods in Russia. Workers are offered training, two- to three-year contracts and preferential loans through the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies.

We examine how Russian and Vietnamese interests have converged around the production of Russian military uniforms.

Government cooperation

In September 2026, Vietnamese government websites published a joint statement following Vietnamese President Tô Lâm’s visit to Moscow. It described defence and security cooperation as a pillar of relations between the two countries. Russia also expressed support for Vietnamese investment in textile manufacturing.

This interest has a practical basis: Vietnamese businesses already have manufacturing capacity in Russia. In 2018, Voice of Vietnam reported that Vietnamese entrepreneurs had established around 200 garment businesses in the country, employing more than 10,000 workers.

From Vietnamese cuisine to military uniforms

In August 2025, Vietnamese state broadcaster VTV reported on the Vietcafe Technology factory in Chekhov, Moscow Region. According to the broadcaster, it employs more than 200 Vietnamese nationals, with a significant share of its orders involving military uniforms and uniforms for Russian government units.

The Vietcafe Technology website presents the company as a Vietnamese-Russian garment manufacturer. According to Russia’s corporate register, the company is owned and managed by Russian nationals. However, VTV identifies Nguyễn Văn Nam as chairman of its board of directors.

Vietcafe Technology forms part of the same corporate network as Vietcafe Management, which controls the large Vietnamese restaurant chain Pho Bo Cafe. Both legal entities use email addresses on vietcafe.ru domains, while Ekaterina Nikitina, a co-owner of the factory, holds a 1% stake in Vietcafe & Phobo, a company she jointly owns with Vietcafe Management.

Who is acquiring Vietnamese-linked businesses

Vietcafe Technology lists military equipment manufacturer Triada-TKO, part of the Kalashnikov Group, among its customers.

We found that since 2025 Triada-TKO has acquired stakes in 11 companies linked to Vietnamese entrepreneurs across manufacturing centres in the Vladimir, Tula, Ryazan and Moscow regions, either buying the companies outright or acquiring 21% stakes.

For example, for three months in 2026 Triada-TKO held a stake in Vitekskom. The company is part of the Milton manufacturing network, whose entities are connected through common Vietnamese owners and a factory at 10 Komsomolskaya Street in Chekhov, Moscow Region. Vietcafe Technology also lists a production site at the same address.

The Chekhov factory is likely to employ workers from countries other than Vietnam as well. For 2026, companies in the Milton group submitted applications to employ 35 sewing workers from Myanmar and 50 from Bangladesh. Demida, a company linked to the Vietcafe network, also declared a need for 300 sewing workers from Bangladesh.

Photo: Vietnamese President Tô Lâm and Vladimir Putin // Kremlin.ru