Russia still receives electronics from Germany despite sanctions

Despite sanctions, Russian companies likely receive microelectronics from German companies.

According to the Spiegel investigation, despite the export ban, Russian military companies are likely to receive electronics used for weapons systems from Germany.

Sometimes these are relatively simple microchips for use in drones, sometimes more complex components that can be used to control cruise missiles.

It is noted that Elix-St alone sent dozens of shipments to Kazakhstan totaling more than 800,000 euros after the Russian invasion of Ukraine began.

According to Spiegel, German authorities are aware of these exports, but so far have not been concerned. However, the agreements should draw attention, as the firm supplied products directly to Russia between 2018 and 2021 and did not export to Kazakhstan at all.

The company denies the accusations of circumventing sanctions, claiming that goods were sent to Kazakhstan and have no information on diversion to Russia.

According to trade data, Kazakhstan is likely to be only an intermediate stop for components. For example, on October 31, 2022, 354 Fujitsu chips from Elix-St were registered with Russian customs. The components had arrived in Kazakhstan two weeks earlier.

The Russian customer, a weapons supplier, probably paid more than double the purchase price of the components online.