Russia acquiring microchips for jets and missiles via companies linked to Belarusian leader

Between September 2022 and June 2024, Belarusian companies exported microchips worth over US$125 million to Russia.

Source: an investigation by the Belarusian Investigative Center, reported by The Moscow Times 

Details: Approximately US$400,000 worth of the components were of Western origin, despite the sanctions in place. These supplies were made through complex schemes involving companies connected to the self-proclaimed Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko's close allies.

Over nearly two years, around 10,000 microchips of American and European origin were sent to Russia. These include Intel products used in the operation and navigation of aerial bombs, Su-35S and Su-34 fighter jets, Korsar UAVs and Kalibr missiles.

One major supplier was Alexvit Ltd., owned by Sergei Borysiuk, former Belarusian State Customs Committee Deputy Head. The company is closely linked to Viktor Sheiman, a long-time Lukashenko ally and former head of the Presidential Administration. Between September 2022 and June 2023, Alexvit Ltd. exported 131 microchips from the US, Germany and Finland to Russia.

Another supplier, OFS-Export, sold over 1,200 microchips to Russia from October 2022 to February 2024. This firm is reportedly tied to Alexander Shakutsin, owner of the Amkodor holding company, sanctioned by the EU as one of Lukashenko's "wallets".

Logistics company Vostok, owned by Aliaksei Matvieiev and linked to businessman Sergei Teterin (also under EU sanctions), exported over 1,500 US-made microchips to Russia between December 2022 and March 2023.

The largest supplier of Western microchips was Pervyi Kontinent (First Continent), established two months after the start of the war. From January to June 2024 alone, it sold 1,665 microchips to Russia worth US$155,000. The company is owned by Ilya Tarasyuk, previously connected to Belarus's military-industrial complex.

Background:

• In July, The New York Times reported that in 2023, Russia restored its imports of Western semiconductors to levels seen at the end of 2021, creating networks of front companies in Hong Kong, China, Türkiye and other countries. However, tighter US sanctions in 2024 significantly reduced these flows through Hong Kong and China.
• NYT revealed that since the beginning of the war, over 6,000 companies have facilitated the delivery of prohibited chips to Russia, amounting to around US$4 billion.

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