Typical smuggling: how Russians are looking for ways to circumvent sanctions

Typical smuggling: how Russians are looking for ways to circumvent sanctions Angela Figin

< strong _ngcontent-sc114>Ukraine and international partners have imposed a series of sanctions against Russia after the full-scale invasion. However, the aggressor country still finds workarounds to obtain important components for its military-industrial complex.

The sanctions are in place and make it difficult to supply Russia with key components for the production of ammunition, but this is not the only shot, after which the enemy will stop its military-industrial complex. StateWatch Chairman of the Board Alexander Lemenov told Channel 24 what restrictions will have an effective result.

Who is helping Russia

The European Union has already imposed 14 packages of sanctions on Russia, but the Russians are still importing the necessary goods. It's just that the transport distance is longer for them, which increases costs.

Attempts to impose sanctions and for Russians to avoid them are a long game. It doesn't happen that sanctions are imposed and the Russians sit down, fold their rotten paws and do nothing, – Lemenov noted.

The Kremlin is looking for other jurisdictions so that not direct deliveries, for example, from Germany, France, the USA, but through so-called parallel imports. Although this is indeed typical smuggling.

Russia is helped by Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Uzbekistan and other countries. Therefore, it is not surprising that the Russians receive certain elements for the production of weapons.

Which sector should strict restrictions be imposed

In 2023, the import of key components for the production of ammunition – cellulose and nitrocellulose from the countries of Central Asia, China, and even from the countries of Western democracies – increased sharply.

Cellulose and nitrocellulose are essential for the Russians to produce smokeless powder, without which they will not be able to produce shells. The vast majority of raw materials go through Uzbekistan or the Fergana Chemical Plant.

It is clear that nitrocellulose is made from cellulose. The Russians are doing this on an industrial scale at two gunpowder factories – Kazan and Perm, – said the chairman of the StateWatch board.

The Russians are trying to establish control even over those enterprises that supply raw materials, controlling the entire chain themselves.

“This can be stopped by imposing sanctions. It is worth hitting the banking sector, imposing secondary sanctions on financial institutions through which transactions take place. In addition, all transactions have correspondent accounts that can be tracked,” Lemenov added.

By the way, thanks to US sanctions, Chinese banks have limited sales of yuan to Russia.