Sanctions are leaky: Russia received almost $2 billion worth of chips in a year, half of them from large companies
Despite the sanctions imposed after the invasion of Ukraine, Russia imported more than $1 billion worth of high-tech American and European chips in 2023.
According to a Bloomberg report citing classified data from the Russian customs service, the aggressor imported chips from American manufacturers Intel Corp, Advanced Micro Devices and Analog Devices Inc. and European manufacturers Infineon Technologies AG, STMicroelectronics NV and NXP Semiconductors NV.
The article notes that more than half of the imported semiconductors and integrated circuits in the first nine months of 2023 were produced by American and European companies.
“In the first nine months of last year, Russia imported $1.7 billion worth of chips, including $1.2 billion produced by 20 large companies. Small producers, in particular from Europe and the United States, accounted for the remaining $500 million,” the article says.
The documents do not suggest that the companies violated sanctions laws, and the data do not indicate who exported the chips to Russia, where they were shipped from, or when they were manufactured.
All of the companies interviewed by Bloomberg said they are in full compliance with sanctions requirements, have ceased operations in Russia, and have implemented processes and policies to monitor compliance.
According to the article, the vast majority of banned technologies enter Russia through re-exports from third countries, including China, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates. The U.S. and EU are working to block these routes, with a particular focus on a list of high-priority dual-use and advanced goods that have been found in Russian weapons in Ukraine or are critical to their production.
