More than $1 billion worth of goods shipped in 2022 from the EU to Armenia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan have “disappeared” while transiting through Russia. On this subject informed Financial Times in reference to open data.
How writes “Novaya Gazeta. Europe” , according to open data, after the start of the war in Ukraine, EU trade with Armenia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan “reached an unprecedented level”. At the same time, half of the dual-use goods do not arrive in these countries and end up in Russia.
“These goods, which the EU considers suitable for use in the military or intelligence services and subject to export controls, could be imported into Russia directly from the EU under the pretext that they were only in transit,” the FT post read.
Journalists claim that Russia managed to circumvent the sanctions by indicating false destinations on EU customs declarations. Thus, the Russian Federation retained access to goods such as aircraft components, optical equipment and gas turbines.
“Where else could they go? Why did these countries suddenly need these goods at this time? Who in the region needs these goods the most? Obviously Russia,” said Erki Kodar, Estonian Sanctions Minister.
The publication indicates that a disproportionate share of ghost exports goes to Russia from the Baltic countries.
In February, the EU introduced the tenth package of sanctions against Russia. The restrictions have also affected dual-use transit from the EU through Russia. From now on, it is impossible to directly import dual-use goods from the EU to the Russian Federation, even if they are destined for third countries.
Source: delfi
