Kazakhstan is helping russia evade international sanctions by acting as an intermediary in supplying it with microchips and drones.
Source. This is stated in a joint investigation by Important Stories, OCCRP and Der Spiegel.
Since the beginning of russia's invasion of Ukraine, imports of microelectronics to Kazakhstan have more than doubled. While in 2021 the amount of integrated circuit supplies amounted to $35 million, in 2022 it exceeded $75 million.
Chip exports from Kazakhstan showed even more significant growth: $245 thousand in 2021 and $18 million a year later.
And while chips are at least mentioned in the 2021 import and export reports, drones appeared in them only in 2022. Thus, last year, Kazakhstan imported drones worth $5 million and exported $1.23 million to russia.
In particular, in 2022, more than 500 drones were sent to russia by the Kazakh company Aspan Arba, which was registered two months after the invasion began and acts as the official dealer of drones from the Chinese company DJI in Kazakhstan. In total, Aspan Arba received a license to purchase 18,000 drones from China for a total of $45 million.
On the russian side, drones are purchased from Aspan Arba by the Heavenly Mechanics company. It is the largest supplier of drones to the russian military-industrial complex.
The largest russian buyer of microchips from Kazakhstan is Stack, a company registered in an apartment in moscow. In 2022-2023, it imported $4.2 million worth of components from Kazakhstan. The customs data indicates the countries of origin: Hong Kong, Germany, the Netherlands, and Singapore. Last year, the FSB, russian foreign intelligence and the DPR were listed among Set-1's buyers.
Another russian company that buys microelectronics through Kazakhstan is called Prime-Ek. In 2022-2023, it imported $3.1 million worth of components to russia. In 2022, one of its main buyers was the Penza-based Elektropribor production association. It is part of Rostec's Automatika concern and produces communications equipment for the russian Defense Ministry. Among them is the P-240I complex, which is used by the russian military in Ukraine for communication in the field.
Background. As a reminder, the United States arrested two russians involved in a large-scale scheme to supply Boeing and Airbus parts to russia.