Russia annually buys tens of millions of euros worth of weapons technology from EU countries under sanctions - Bloomberg

The aggressor country Russia buys tens of millions of euros worth of sanctioned weapons technology from EU member states. Sales and transfers are made through subsidiaries and third countries.

Bloomberg writes about this. According to officials familiar with the matter, EU states are still not doing enough to prevent Moscow from obtaining technology for use in weapons.

According to the article, almost a quarter of the so-called high-priority goods worth 450 million euros that came to Russia from the EU in the first nine months of last year were shipped directly from Europe. The rest was mostly imported by Russia through third countries, one European official said on condition of anonymity.

Among the countries involved in the trade bypassing EU sanctions, the journalists' sources named Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Serbia and China, as well as Russia's neighbors, including Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia.

In January 2024, the Kyiv School of Economics reported that between January and October 2023, Russia imported $8.77 billion worth of military goods.

Most of this trade is carried out through networks of thousands of small companies outside the EU (most of which are based in China) and often goes through several stages in different jurisdictions, Bloomberg writes.

"However, an internal EU estimate suggests that some of the trade takes place within the bloc. Member states, which are responsible for enforcing sanctions, and companies, knowingly or unknowingly, are not doing enough to stop it, officials said," the article says.

According to one official, the data also indicate that subsidiaries and subcontractors of some European firms operating abroad are producing sanctioned goods and exporting them to Russia through intermediaries.

As a reminder, on February 21, the European Union agreed on the 13th package of sanctions against the terrorist country of Russia. The sanctions package included about 200 companies and individuals, but did not include new measures. Ukraine's representative to the EU called the 13th package "modest" and called for more significant restrictions in the 14th package.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, Russia uses Western technologies in its weapons. At the same time, microcircuits come to Russia from European companies that sell their goods allegedly for third countries. This problem can only be solved in a comprehensive manner, and diplomacy may not help, said the head of the Presidential Office, Andriy Yermak.

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