Russia was receiving equipment for military needs from German companies until end of 2023
Despite the sanctions, in 2023, German companies may have supplied more than 300 deliveries to Russia that could have been used to produce vehicle parts or ammunition. Source: This is evidenced by an investigation by the German television company SWR, as reported by European Pravda.
Despite the sanctions, in 2023, German companies may have supplied more than 300 deliveries to Russia that could have been used to produce vehicle parts or ammunition.
Source: This is evidenced by an investigation by the German television company SWR, as reported by European Pravda.
Details: SWR obtained Russian customs documents, which revealed that by the end of December 2023, more than 300 deliveries from German manufacturers had been made to Russia.
Most of them are large industrial machines or CNC (computer numerical control) machines.
These computer-controlled machines can, for example, cut steel, bend sheet metal, and weld metal parts in a fully automatic mode.
The company noted that Olena Yurchenko, an adviser to the Economic Security Council of Ukraine, said that 80% of CNC machines in Russia are used in military production, and Germany is the market leader in the production of these machines, with up to 30% of them in Russia.
The journalists said that through video and photography, they managed to find out that the Russian companies Parsec, Kamaz, NIR and Industrial Solutions supply the Russian military with engines and parts for aircraft and missiles.
All of these companies use German equipment, which, according to customs documents, continued to be imported last year. It is possible that Russia will receive such machines this year as well, the journalists noted.
The broadcaster also managed to identify more than 30 German manufacturers whose machines were imported to Russia last year, many of them located in Baden-Württemberg, a traditional engineering hub.
The manufacturers include: Walter Maschinenbau, Vollmer, Fein GmbH, Heller, etc.
According to the journalists, in about two-thirds of the cases, the machines were brought to Russia via Türkiye: some Turkish intermediaries have direct ties to Russia, and some were founded by Russian entrepreneurs.
The manufacturers contacted by the journalists blame the intermediaries, saying that they violated the sanctions regime without the German companies’ knowledge.
Experts think these illegal exports can be stopped by strengthening sanctions and control over their enforcement.
Companies may not actually know where their products end up, but they can easily find out and take appropriate action if they wish.
Background:
- German TV channel ARD conducted an investigation that revealed that Knauf and WKB systems are building facilities in Mariupol
- After that, official Berlin warned German companies against participating in any Russian projects in the occupied city.
- Earlier, a journalist from the German public broadcaster ZDF, Armin Körper, who heads the channel's Moscow office, filmed a story that distorts the picture of life in Russian-occupied Mariupol.
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