Since the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, EU countries have transited around $2 billion worth of dual-use goods through Russia, but only half of them have reached their declared destinations in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and in Armenia. On this subject writing Financial Times (FT), citing open data analysis.
In reality, the share of dual-use items that have settled in Russia may be higher, since the FT material only refers to sanctioned dual-use items that the publication was able to trace.
The newspaper suggests that assets located in Russia could be used for military and intelligence purposes. “A disproportionate share of the ‘ghost exports’ that never reached their destinations left the EU from the Baltic countries on the border with Russia and Belarus, writes the newspaper.
“The inconsistency in the records suggests that Russia is circumventing massive sanctions with the help of intermediaries, agents or suppliers listing false destinations on EU customs declarations,” the FT said in a statement. publication.
Thus, according to the publication, Russia was able to maintain access to spare parts for European-made aircraft, optical equipment and gas turbines.
In some cases, almost all categories of goods shipped in transit remained in Russia, including gas turbines, soldering irons and radio equipment, the FT notes.
From the discrepancy between trade statistics of the EU and Kazakhstan, it appears that in the year following the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, goods worth $2.9 billion were “disappeared” between countries. Additionally, 13 months before the outbreak of hostilities, Lithuania reported sending double destinations worth $28 million, while Astana reported receiving goods worth $9 million. Since February 2022, Lithuania has sent dual-use goods to Kazakhstan for $84 million, but Kazakhstan said it received goods for only $11 million.
By data Reuters, May 10 EU countries held the first discussion of new sanctions against Russia, including the possibility of a complete halt to the transit of high-tech products and aircraft parts through Russia.
In late April, the FT wrote that the EU was discussing limiting exports to countries that help Russia evade sanctions.
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