A British company has smuggled $1.2 billion worth of electronics to Russia to circumvent sanctions

The London-based Mykines Corporation has supplied electronics worth about $1.2 billion to Russia after the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops and the imposition of sanctions.

Source. This was reported by The Financial Times with reference to customs documents.

The company sent semiconductors, servers, laptops, computer components, telecommunications network equipment and consumer electronics to Russia. The declarations list brands such as Huawei and H3C, as well as Intel, AMD, Apple, and Samsung.

Of the total supply, at least $982 million worth of goods were on the list of goods prohibited for export to Russia. The sale of these goods to buyers in Russia without the permission of the British government is a violation of sanctions, even if the deliveries were organized through third countries, the FT clarifies.

Mykines had been operating in Russia before the war in Ukraine, but its sales increased sharply after the sanctions were imposed. In total, the company sent 10,600 shipments to Russia. The vast majority of them were received by one Moscow-based company, Marsala.

According to the FT, this company may be closely linked to Merlion, a large distributor of computers and electronics in Russia.

The British government responded to the customs data by stating that "all businesses registered in the UK are required by law to comply with the sanctions regime against Russia."

The US, EU, and UK have imposed restrictions on the supply of microchips to Russia in connection with the war in Ukraine. However, at the end of 2022, Reuters reported that American microchips continue to enter Russia through intermediary companies in third countries, including Turkey and Hong Kong.

Background. As reported, Lithuania proposes to create a center for monitoring compliance with sanctions against Russia and Belarus.