BelOMA (Belarus Optical & Mechanical Association; Belarusian: , ; Russian: BelOMO or ''Bel''orusskoe ''O''ptiko-''M''echanichesckoye ''O''byedinenie - Беломо or ''Бел''орусское ''о''птико-''м''еханическое ''о''бъединение) is the leading optoelectronic device producer in

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

, founded in 1954 as the Minsk Mechanical Factory. Agat 18k film camera

The main factory opened in Minsk 1957 and was named after the Soviet physicist

Sergey Ivanovich Vavilov Sergey Ivanovich Vavilov ( ; – January 25, 1951) was a Soviet Union, Soviet physicist, the President of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union from July 1945 until his death. His elder brother Nikolai Vavilov was a famous Russian genet ...

(1891–1951). At first, BelOMA made photographic equipment and lens-making machinery for state use. It now manufactures a wide range of products, including military and consumer optical products. During the 1980s it produced the Agat-18 and Agat-18K half-frame 35mm cameras, still popular among Lomographic photographers. A joint venture with

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

optics maker

Zeiss Zeiss or Zeiß may refer to: People *Carl Zeiss (1816–1888), German optician and entrepreneur *Emil Zeiß (1833–1910), German Protestant minister and painter * Juan Pablo Zeiss (born 1989), Argentine rugby union player * Mary Zeiss Sta ...

was begun in 1995 and ended 2023/24. The firm produces lenses and optical elements for

microscope A microscope () is a laboratory equipment, laboratory instrument used to examine objects that are too small to be seen by the naked eye. Microscopy is the science of investigating small objects and structures using a microscope. Microscopic ...

s and other optical equipment with

ISO 9001 The ISO 9000 family is a set of international standards for quality management systems. It was developed in March 1987 by International Organization for Standardization. The goal of these standards is to help organizations ensure that they meet ...

certification. MMZ—BelOMA factory estimates its global market share in optical sights,

rangefinder A rangefinder (also rangefinding telemeter, depending on the context) is a device used to Length measurement, measure distances to remote objects. Originally optical devices used in surveying, they soon found applications in other fields, suc ...

s and NVDs at 2-3%, with 10% of Russian market and 80% of local market.Информационный меморандум
The factory also produces

gas meter A gas meter is a specialized flow meter, used to measure the volume of fuel gases such as natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas. Gas meters are used at residential, commercial, and industrial buildings that consume fuel gas supplied by a g ...

s, car units, infra-red emitters, juicers and other civil products.

International sanctions

In 2022, BelOMA was blacklisted by the European Union, the US, Switzerland and Japan, in response to Belarus's enabling of and support for the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

. In May 2023, Ukraine imposed sanctions against several BelOMO subsidiaries On July 1, 2023, Ukraine further blacklisted the CEO of BelOMA Alexander Moroz, the director of the STC "LEMT" Alexey Shkadarevich and several enterprises of the association. In August 2023, BelOMA was also blacklisted by Canada and the United Kingdom. On December 5, 2023, the

United States Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the Treasury, national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current United States federal executive departments, U.S. government departments. ...

’s

Office of Foreign Assets Control The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is a financial intelligence and enforcement agency of the United States Department of the Treasury, United States Treasury Department. It administers and enforces economic and trade economic sanctions, ...

has added BelOMO, LEMT BelOMA and Zenit BelOMA, another BelOMA subsidiary, as well as their Directors general, Moroz, Shkadarevich and Gaichuk, to its

Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List The Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List, also known as the SDN List, is a United States government sanctions/embargo measure targeting U.S.-designated terrorists, officials and beneficiaries of certain authoritarian regimes, a ...

. In April 2024, Dzmitry Mikhaltsou, the technical director of the Vavilov Plant, was also added to the SDN list. In June 2024, BelOMO, Moroz, LEMT BelOMO and JSC Zenit BelOMA were added to the European Union's sanctions list. In July, Switzerland, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Ukraine joined these sanctions; New Zealand blacklisted BelOMA and Moroz in September. On August 23, 2024, the United States announced sanctions against yet another BelOMA subsidiary, the Diaproektor plant, as well as its director and two deputy directors. Following sanctions, BelOMA has obtained parts and supplies from several Chinese companies.

Camera models

* Agat-18 * Agat-18K * Chaika * Elikon-35CM *

Vilia Vilia (; formerly Eidyllia, Ειδυλλία) is a village and a former municipality of West Attica, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Mandra-Eidyllia, of which it is a municipal unit. Its population w ...

References

External links

* BelOMO website * Website of Zeiss BelOMO joint venture {{Expand Belarusian (Taraškievica orthography), Беларускае оптыка-мэханічнае аб’яднаньне, date=April 2025 Manufacturing companies of the Soviet Union Optics manufacturing companies Photography in the Soviet Union Companies of Belarus Organizations based in Minsk Economy of Minsk Manufacturing companies established in 1971 Belarusian entities subject to U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctions