Investigators have established that there is a scheme according to which a group of Chinese companies receives Dutch chips and exports them to Russia.
Despite the imposed sanctions prohibiting the supply to Russia of high-tech components that can be used to manufacture weapons, at least three Russian defense enterprises find their way to microchips produced in the Netherlands.
This was established by the investigators of the Nieuwsuur program of the Dutch state television and radio company NOS.
The investigation found that millions of Dutch-made microchips were imported into Russia from the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine until December 2022.
Despite tough sanctions, there has been no decline in exports in recent months.
To supply Russia with high-tech components necessary for the manufacture of weapons, a scheme is used in which a group of Chinese companies receive chips from the Netherlands and export them to the Russian Federation. One such company is already on the US sanctions list due to supplies to the Russian defense industry.
According to journalists, several hundred deliveries were made to three Russian companies associated with defense enterprises.
Leading companies in the semiconductor and microchip sectors are known to operate in the Netherlands, including NXP and ASML. The investigation claims that NXP microchips were recently found on the battlefield in Ukraine.
Recall that at the end of December 2022, the US Treasury imposed sanctions on 10 Russian companies working for the military industry of the aggressor country. Among them are enterprises engaged in the development and production of cruise and ballistic missile firing control systems.
