Western countries continue to supply semiconductors to Russia, despite the sanctions. The corresponding investigation, conducted jointly with the Royal Joint Institute for Defense Research, reports Reuters. The authors of the investigation found that from April to November, the United States and a number of European countries supplied Russia with chips worth $777 million. These are components from Intel, AMD, Texas Instruments, Analog Devices and Infineon. Earlier it was reported that foreign chips are found in the wreckage of missiles that Russia launches in Ukraine.
Gasket companies are being created to carry out deliveries in Turkey and Hong Kong, one of them, the Turkish Azu International Ltd Sti, was registered in March 2022, and a week later it began to supply components to the Russian Federation. The founder of the company is Gokturk Agvaz. He also owns the German microchip supplier Smart Impex. After the imposition of sanctions, it stopped deliveries to the Russian Federation, but continued to supply chips to Turkey.
Since March, the company has been exporting at least $20 million worth of components to Russia, including chips made by American manufacturers, over a seven-month period since March, according to Russian customs.
Another Turkish padding firm, Smart Trading Ltd, was founded by the CEO of the Russian logistics firm Novelco, Grigory Grigoriev. According to Russian customs declarations, the company has shipped at least $660,000 worth of products from American semiconductor manufacturers since March.
In September, Novelco organized a seminar in Moscow for its customers on the topic "How to find alternative ways to deliver goods" to Russia. In a 45-minute presentation entitled "Foreign Trade Tactics and Strategies to Compensate for Sanctions," Grigoriev urged companies to stockpile products and develop diversified pools of suppliers from more than one country.
Grigoriev said in a LinkedIn post that Novelco has opened a branch in Istanbul and ships goods to Russia from Turkey without respecting US and EU trade restrictions on Russia. Once the goods arrive in Turkey, “the shipments are processed for re-export, and the goods can go to Russia by air, sea, road and rail,” Grigoriev explained in his post.
There are deliveries from the European Union. In particular, they bypass sanctions in Estonia. Elmec Trade OÜ, based in Tallinn, sent at least $17 million worth of goods to Russia between April 1 and October 31. Alexander Fomenko, CEO of the company, said that exports are carried out exclusively in accordance with old contracts concluded before the imposition of sanctions.
The authors of the investigation also note that instead of the Russian importers that fell under the sanctions, other firms quickly appear, sometimes with offices in the same buildings. In July 2021, the Russian company Radiant Group, which imports chips, was sanctioned. Its purchases dropped sharply, but suddenly Titan-Micro, registered in a private wooden house on the outskirts of Moscow, began actively importing semiconductors. An interlocutor of Reuters in this company said that in fact the office is located on the 11th floor of the business center at Profsoyuznaya, 65. The Radiant Group office is also located there.