Sanctioned goods worth $1 billion went missing while transiting through Russia – Kommersant

Sub-sanctioned dual-use goods from the European Union worth more than $1 billion, which were in transit through Russia, did not reach their destination in Kyrgyzstan, Armenia and Kazakhstan. The newspaper reported The Financial Times (FT) with reference to international trade data.

According to the FT, a disproportionately large share of “phantom exports” left the EU through the Baltic countries. According to trade data, the goods were sent in transit through Russia to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia. The newspaper notes that only half of the dual-use goods, totaling $2 billion, have reached their final destination in these countries. All these goods were sent after the start of the Russian military operation in Ukraine in February 2022.

In reality, there may be more goods “missing” during transit, as journalists evaluated only dual-use products, the FT specified. As follows from the gap between the trade data of the EU and Kazakhstan, in the year since the entry of Russian troops into Ukraine, goods totaling $ 2.9 billion have disappeared during transportation. Armenia and Kyrgyzstan did not disclose customs data for this period. According to the FT, a surge in imports of goods under customs control from the EU to Kazakhstan could cover up to 40% of the reduction in their supplies to Russia and Belarus over the past year.

In particular, 13 months before the start of the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Lithuania announced that it had sent dual-use goods to Kazakhstan in the amount of $28 million, while Kazakhstan announced that it had received products worth $9 million. Since February 2022, Lithuania has sent dual-use goods to Kazakhstan appointments worth $84 million, but Kazakhstan reported receiving only $11 million.

In 2022, trade between Russia and Kazakhstan increased by $2 billion to $26 billion, the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry reported. On April 1, Kazakhstan launched a monitoring system for imported goods to Russia. The country’s authorities said they would not allow their jurisdiction to be used to circumvent sanctions.

More details – in the material “Kommersant” “Refrigerators Change Route”.