EU weighs sanctions on firms shipping weapons tech to Russia

The European Union is assessing potential sanctions against more than a dozen companies that have continued to buy restricted goods from the bloc and supply them to Russia, according to a document seen by Bloomberg.

The companies, based in Russia as well as Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, China and Hong Kong, have imported millions of euros worth of restricted European goods that have been used by the Russian military, despite the EU’s extensive trade restrictions, an assessment seen by Bloomberg suggests. 

A spokesman for the European Commission declined to comment.

The EU has made it a top priority to crack down on companies circumventing its sanctions on so-called high priority items — goods found in Russian weapons in Ukraine or needed to build them. Bloomberg previously reported that Russia was still getting its hands on tens of millions of euros of banned technologies, through third countries as well as companies and subsidiaries in those nations.

The EU is also assessing whether to sanction a small number of Chinese and Hong Kong based companies that have allegedly provided Russia with satellite images and other technologies.

Several of the companies being assessed for potential sanctions are based outside Russia but have links to Russian and Belarussian individuals and firms, the document suggests. EU states are expected to begin discussing a new sanctions package later this week. 

A proposal to sanction the entities being assessed is not certain, and proposed measures could differ. EU sanctions require the backing of all member states to be adopted.

Imports included technology linked to navigation systems for missiles, EU-made antennas, as well as components used in military computer hardware, according to the document. Much of the equipment is either EU- or US-branded. The companies are helping to support Russia’s technological enhancement and Moscow’s efforts on the battlefield, according to the document.

Some of the firms under consideration have been previously sanctioned by the US.