Last year, Russia circumvented sanctions by buying more than $1 billion worth of chips that could be used to make weapons - Bloomberg
Kyiv • UNN
In the first nine months of last year, Russia imported more than $1 billion worth of chips that could potentially be used for weapons production. More than half of them were produced by American and European companies
In the first nine months of last year, Russia imported more than one billion dollars worth of chips that can be used to produce weapons. More than half of them were made by American and European companies. Bloomberg reports this with reference to classified data from the Russian customs service, UNN writes.
According to the publication, classified data from the Russian customs service obtained by Bloomberg show that more than half of the imported semiconductors and integrated circuits in the first nine months of 2023 were made by American and European companies.
They included Intel Corp, Advanced Micro Devices and Analog Devices Inc. as well as European brands Infineon Technologies AG, STMicroelectronics NV and NXP Semiconductors NV. However, there is no suggestion that the companies violated sanctions legislation, and the data does not indicate who exported the technology to Russia, where it was shipped from, or when the goods were manufactured.
The companies declare that they are in full compliance with the sanctions requirements, have ceased operations in Russia, implemented processes and policies to monitor compliance with the sanctions, and are working to counteract the illegal diversion of goods, including in cooperation with the relevant authorities.
The vast majority of prohibited technologies enter Russia through re-exports from third countries, including China, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. The U.S. and the EU are working to block these routes, with a particular focus on a list of high-priority so-called dual-use and advanced goods found in Russian weapons in Ukraine or critical to their production.
It is clarified that manufacturers are not always required to track where their products end up after being sold to these companies, although some specific military chips must have a documented trail.
According to Bloomberg, overall, customs data showed that Russia imported $1.7 billion worth of chips in the first nine months of last year, including $1.2 billion worth of chips produced by a total of 20 companies.
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Oleksandr Ruvin, director of the Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise, said earlier that foreign partners are constantly interested inwhich countries' components are found in Russian weapons in order to take appropriate measures.
"They take this painfully. They are interested in which company, whose production, when the component was produced, because in many cases the Russians erase the numbers, erase the manufacturers. And we have to use special methods that we have to conduct examinations," Ruvin said.
At the same time, he clarified that sanctions against Russia are in effect, but supplies are carried out through countries that have not joined the sanctions regime.
"The sanctions are in effect. They apply only to the purchase of these components by the Russian Federation or its satellites. But there are third and fourth countries from which it is also possible to supply, and this is probably what is being done," Ruvin added.
