Over $1 Billion Worth of Goods Sent from EU 'Disappeared': Financial Times

In 2022, over $1 billion worth of goods sent from EU countries to Armenia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan have 'disappeared' during transit through Russian territory. This was reported by the Financial Times. The publication refers to the current situation as 'phantom trade.'

According to open data, since the onset of the Russian military invasion of Ukraine, goods worth $2 billion have been imported into Russia under the pretext of transit from EU countries. At the same time, the publication emphasizes that the actual volume of 'phantom trade' from the EU to Russia is significantly larger.

Recipients of European goods, including dual-use items under sanctions that can be utilized in the military industry, have been companies from Armenia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Russia has managed to bypass sanctions by indicating false destinations in EU customs declarations, according to the Financial Times.

Thus, goods that are prohibited for export to Russia, such as aircraft components, optical equipment, and gas turbines, have directly entered the country from the EU, claiming that they were merely in transit through Russian territory.

'Where else could they go? Why did these countries suddenly need these goods at this moment? Who in the region most needs these goods? It is obvious that it is Russia,' says Erki Kodar, Estonia's Minister of Sanctions.

The publication states that a disproportionately large amount of such exports to Russia is coming from the Baltic states. Meanwhile, neighboring countries to Russia that have not supported the sanctions have recorded a suspicious sharp increase in the import of certain categories of goods. Presumably, these goods have later been sent to Russia. The German DPA news agency, citing EU sources, mentioned Kazakhstan as one of the countries where cases of circumventing sanctions against Russia have been recorded.