The German company bypassing sanctions supplied technologies to Russia through Slovenia – Politico

The German technology company could export technologies to Russia through Slovenia, despite the new sanctions of the European Union, the Politico investigation shows.

Source: “European Truth” with reference to Politico

Details: As the investigation revealed, Kontron, which has representations throughout the EU, in the United Kingdom and the US, used its unit to Slovenia to export telecommunication technology to its Russian subsidiary in the amount of more than 3.5 million euros at the end of 2023.

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This happened despite a few waves of EU sanctions, including the 11th Package of Sanctions, introduced in June 2023, which aimed to limit the export of advanced technologies and dual-use goods to Russia.

Export documents that reviewed the publication indicate that 11 shipments were made from the Slovenian branch of Kontron to the Russian subsidiary of ISKRA Technologies from July to November 2023 – after the June sanctions came into force.

Among the exported products were dual -use products, including the Si3000 system, which can track and intercept telecommunications traffic.

The company stated that these deliveries were performed under the current permits issued by the Slovenia Government and concerned with the contracts already concluded. She also reported that she stopped all new shipments after June 2023.

“After the implementation of the 11th Package of Sanctions, we stopped exporting new goods and only made deliveries already approved by export licenses in accordance with applicable EU sanctions,”-said there.

According to the newspaper, Kontron has previously stated departure from activities in Russia. In particular, she condemned the “enormous human suffering” caused by a full -scale invasion of Russia into Ukraine, and stated that she would no longer invest in Russia.

However, Kontron still has a presence in the Russian market through its subsidiary ISKRA Technologies, which was included in the EU sanction list in December 2024. The end of the year states that Kontron “continues to control Iskra Technologies”: because of its Slovenian branch, it owns 48.4% of shares.

At the request of Kontron journalists, she did not specify who owns the remaining 51.6% of ISKRA shares, except that it is a “Russian structure that is not related to state -owned companies.”

The investigation also shows that since June 2023, the Slovenian KONTRON unit made at least 49 supply of Si3000 technology and spare parts to Kazakhstan.

In addition, it is noted that in August 2023, Iskra Technologies united with the Russian company RTSOFT, which Kontron called her “nursing company”. Since 2016, RTSOFT has been licensed to work with secret information of the Russian Federation, published by the FSB, although Kontron claims that the license was canceled in April 2022.

Slovenian documents show that at the end of 2023, Kontron Doo had a loan of 3.546 million euros for ISKRA Technologies, which is subject to repayment in 2026–2027. In 2022, she also wrote off 6.393 million euros of debts of the Russian company.

EU sanctions are prohibited from providing financial assistance or making available funds for sub -structures. Kontron stated that these loans remain active but were checked for compliance with sanctions.

What was before:

• In October 2024, the Customs of Finland began to investigate a criminal scheme, within which a company from the east of the country transported drones to Russia, hydraulic lockers, processors and other electronics worth a few hundred thousand euros.
• In such schemes, the products under sanctions are declared as intended for Central Asia or Balkans, while in fact they are intended for Russia.
• In early January 2025, Finland continues to record attempts to export goods to Russia, which sanctions were subject to a full -scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, even despite the border closing a year ago.