Technology companies are unknowingly helping Russia – Dutch intelligence
Dutch military intelligence has warned technology companies that Moscow is trying to obtain high-tech assets for the war in Ukraine through front companies, local media reported on Friday.
The head of the Dutch military intelligence service (MIVD), Jan Swillens, said that Russian special services have created dozens of “front companies” in the Netherlands to circumvent Western sanctions.
These companies buy technology in the Netherlands and then import it to Russia and use it for military purposes, he told Financieele Dagblad (FD).
His comments were confirmed by the Dutch Ministry of Defense, according to the Dutch news agency ANP and public television NOS.
Such actions have been taking place since Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, “but with the start of a full-scale war against Ukraine, they have significantly intensified,” Swillens told FD.
The Netherlands is home to leading companies in the technology sector such as NXP and ASML, which manufacture semiconductors and microcircuits.
ANP quoted a defense spokesman as saying that the tightening of sanctions imposed by Western countries against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine had changed the situation for Russian intelligence services.
“The tougher the sanctions, the harder it becomes for Russian intelligence, and the more inventive they have to be to circumvent the sanctions,” the spokesman said.
Therefore, it is “difficult” for entrepreneurs to realize that they are doing business with Russia indirectly, he added.
The MIVD calls on companies to investigate their customers more deeply and learn about the actual end users of their products, NOS TV reports.
