U.S. and EU completely block Russia from the latest technology buying channels
Western countries are stepping up enforcement of sanctions against Russia, cutting Moscow off from the last, illegal channel for buying technology for its military industry.
Following Germany, where alexander S., who is suspected of selling sanctioned equipment to Russian special services, was detained in May, a similar attempt to export restricted technology to Russia was revealed by the US authorities.
The US Department of Commerce announced the inclusion in the "blacklist" of three Russian companies and three citizens of the Russian Federation, which, according to Washington, tried to purchase goods " becoming involved in activities contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States."
According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, sanctions were imposed on OOO Teson, the Radiant Group of Companies, OOO TradeComponent, and the three associated individuals, Andrey Leonidovich Kuznetsov, Margarita Vasilyevna Kuznetsova, and Dmitry Alexandrovich Kravchenko.
All three companies "been involved in the procurement of U.S.-origin electronic components likely in furtherance of Russian military programs," the document reads.
The United States Secretary of Commerce, Gina Raimondo, promised to continue to "actively use" export control tools.
"We will continue to aggressively use export controls to hold governments, companies, and individuals accountable for attempting to access U.S.-origin items for subversive activities in countries like China, Iran, and Russia that threaten U.S. national security interests and are inconsistent with our values," she said.
On May 18, another channel of illegal supplies to the Russian Federation was blocked by the German authorities. The Prosecutor General's Office of Germany found a company in Saxony, which bypassed the sanctions regime supplying restricted equipment to Russia. The owner of the company was detained.
In July 2014, the European Union, together with the United States, imposed a ban on the sale of dual-use technologies to Russia in response to the downing of the Malaysian Airlines Boeing over the Donbas. Since then, these measures have been repeatedly extended and expanded.
In March 2021, the US Department of Commerce announced another tightening of technological sanctions with the introduction of a " presumption of denial" on the export to Russia of goods and services sensitive from the point of view of national security.