A German company made 16,000 shipments of prohibited goods to the Russian defense industry
The German Federal Prosecutor's Office has uncovered a large-scale scheme to circumvent European sanctions, organized by the Moscow-controlled trading company Global Trade, based in Lübeck.
Politico reports on this.
The company carried out approximately 16,000 shipments of high-tech dual-use products totaling over 30 million euros for the benefit of the Russian military-industrial complex.
The recipients of the prohibited goods were military enterprises and secret organizations engaged in nuclear weapons research.
Prior to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the German company Global Trade exported European technology products directly to the Russian Federation.
However, after the European Union imposed strict sanctions, direct shipments became impossible.
To continue their illegal activities, the perpetrators developed and implemented a complex logistics scheme designed to conceal the end users.
According to the results of a joint investigation by German law enforcement agencies and journalists from Bild and Politico, Turkey served as the transit hub in this scheme.
On paper, the orders sent to Turkish contractors appeared entirely ordinary and legal.
The list of goods included microcontrollers, electronic components, sensors, transducers, ball bearings, mechanical parts, oscilloscopes, and other measuring equipment.
German investigators were able to track the cargo routes in detail and identify their actual buyers within Russia.
Despite the multi-stage nature of the logistics chain and the EU sanctions, the scarce components reached Russian customers in record time—just 5 to 10 days.
Specialists from the German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) also participated in the risk analysis and the disposition of the seized goods.
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