German company sent technologies to Russia after the EU sanctions came into force for more than 3.5 million euros – Politico

Despite the EU sanctions against Russia, the German technology company Kontron continued to export telecommunications technologies worth more than EUR 3.5 million to Russia in 2023 through its Slovenian subsidiary Iskra Technologies. This was reported by Politico, writes UNN.

DetailsAccording to export records seen by Politico, between July and November 2023 – months after the June sanctions took effect – Kontron’s Slovenian subsidiary, Kontron doo, shipped 11 shipments to its Russian subsidiary, Iskra Technologies.

The exported technology included a dual-use product that can monitor and intercept communications traffic, known as the SI3000.

The company said that the shipments, which contained high-tech and dual-use goods banned by EU sanctions after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, were orders allowed under export licenses issued to it by the Slovenian government. The company said it stopped all new shipments after a new wave of sanctions in June 2023.

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“Following the introduction of the 11th package of sanctions (June 23), we stopped exporting any new goods and only carried out already approved exports in accordance with the issued export licenses, in accordance with the current EU sanctions,” the company said in a statement.

EU sanctions on dual-use technologies should apply to all new and existing contracts – even if they were signed before the sanctions came into force.

But they include some case-by-case exceptions in the field of cyber, emergency and medical technologies, while companies must obtain permission from the EU member state in which they are based to fulfil these orders. 

However, this case has raised new questions about Russia’s ability to obtain critical technologies even under restrictions and has called for a strengthening of the global sanctions regime.

“The lack of Western technology in Russia, in particular, is a serious blow to the Russian military economy. That is why Russia has repeatedly tried to obtain Western technology by circumventing sanctions, using complex circumvention systems,” said Roderich Kiesewetter, a CDU member of the German Bundestag and a former NATO security official.

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He warned that Russia’s continued access to surveillance and telecommunications technologies “benefits Putin’s war machine and thus weakens European security”. 

Konstantin von Notz, a member of the Bundestag from the Green Party and chairman of the parliamentary oversight committee that oversees Germany’s security services, warned against any attempts to “undermine the sanctions that have been imposed on Russia for very good reasons.”

He added: “The responsible supervisory authorities at both European and national level must continue to monitor this situation very closely – and now track the relevant data with real determination”. Von Notz called for the “immediate” closure of any loopholes in the EU sanctions regime. 

According to reports, documents from the Slovenian company show that as of the end of 2023, Kontron doo still had a loan of EUR 3.546 million from its Russian subsidiary Iskra Technologies, which was due to be repaid between 2026 and 2027. The Slovenian company also forgave EUR 6.393 million in loans to its Russian subsidiary in 2022. 

EU sanctions prohibit any EU company from providing financial assistance or providing funds for sanctioned entities. Kontron said the loans were still active, but that they had “verified compliance with EU sanctions.”

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