Russian tank manufacturers did not suffer from the Western sanctions while their Ukrainian counterparts suffered a lot, a senior official in the industry said Tuesday.

The sanctions "have not affected the tank-building sector," Vyacheslav Khalitov, deputy CEO of Russia's largest tank maker, Uralvagonzavod (UVZ), told a Moscow radio station.

However, the Western sanctions against Russia have hit Ukrainian tank makers because Ukraine imports many spare parts for its tanks from Russia and Russian plants are the only suppliers of Ukrainian defense enterprises, Khalitov said.

There are two major tank manufacturers in Russia, the Omsk transport machine factory, or Omsktransmash, in the Siberian city of Omsk, which produces T-80 main battle tanks, and the UVZ in the Urals city of Nizhni Tagil, which produces T-72 tanks.

Ukraine's largest manufacturer, the producer of T-64 tanks, is located in the eastern city of Kharkov.

According to Khalitov, the UVZ has increased its foreign exports of spare parts by 7.2 times in recent years. Currently, the UVZ cooperates with 17 countries.

The United States and the EU have initiated rounds of sanctions on Russian individuals and entities in connection with the Ukraine crisis. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.S. President Barack Obama last Thursday threatened additional sanctions should Russia fail to take immediate de-escalatory steps to solve the crisis.

Established in 1936, the UVZ incorporates over 20 enterprises and research institutes in Russia, primarily producing railway cars, road-building and agricultural vehicles, as well as defense equipment.