War in Ukraine. Russia seems to be successfully circumventing EU and G7 sanctions, third countries are helping – Bloomberg

The level of Russian imports has generally returned to pre-aggression levels Ukraineand the analysis of commercial data shows that technologically advanced integrated circuits produced in the EU and other Western countries are supplied to Russia by third countries such as Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Kazakhstan, said the diplomat, quoted by Bloomberg.

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the EU and G7 countries have adopted a series of sanctions packages to weaken Russia’s war machine and its economy. However, the data show that the actual effects of the sanctions in some areas differ from the expected ones.

– Merely approving new sanctions is not enough. Governments now need mechanisms to implement them, said Daniel Tannebaum, a financial crime specialist at Oliver Wyman, quoted by Bloomberg.

The Bloomberg agency noted that although European Commission, as the executive body, monitors implementation and prepares guidelines, national authorities are responsible for detecting infringements and imposing sanctions. This means that the results are inconsistent.

“Our sanctions are very severe and contribute to a permanent economic recession in Russia,” he said last week Bulgaria Vice-President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis. But their effectiveness also depends on how well they are enforced.

According to an EU diplomat, an increasing role in supplying Russia is played by China and other non-EU countries that have not imposed sanctions against Russia, but deny that they are helping Moscow. An example is Kazakhstan, which last year exported technologically advanced semiconductors to Russia worth USD 3.7 million, while a year earlier their value was only USD 12,000. dollars.

In 2017-2021, Russia bought advanced integrated circuits from the EU, USA, Japan and Great Britain worth USD 163 million. Last year it fell to about $60 million.

The data shows that Turkey, Serbia, the United Arab Emirates and several countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia made up for the shortfall. At the same time, deliveries of technologically advanced elements from Western countries to these countries have increased.

A similar regularity is visible in the case of hundreds of other product categories, although it is particularly visible when it comes to integrated circuits that can be used for military purposes – noted the diplomat.

As he emphasized, the EU and allies are trying to eliminate all possibilities of circumventing the sanctions, but tracking supplies is not easy. Buyers sometimes resort to complicated company vehicle use and distribution schemes to hide the ultimate destination of deliveries. In addition, there is incomplete documentation and reloading points where goods can be transferred to other vehicles or the delivery route can be changed.