Attempts to smuggle sanctioned goods from Finland to Russia persist despite closed border – Finnish media

Finland continues to record attempts to export goods to Russia that are subject to sanctions due to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, even though the Finnish-Russian border was closed last year.

Source: Finnish public service media company Yle, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Based on Finnish customs data, over 900 pre-trial investigations have been opened since 2022 into the illegal export of goods under sanctions. Before that, only a few cases were detected per year.

The number of such violations decreased in 2024 following the closure of the Finnish-Russian border, but they persist nonetheless.

More than half of the violations are minor and resolved through a penalty procedure, avoiding court proceedings. These typically involve individuals crossing the border with small quantities of sanctioned items, such as luxury goods.

The remaining offences typically involve deliberate attempts to export goods that could potentially be used by the Russian military.

For example, in October 2024, Finnish customs launched an investigation into a criminal scheme involving a company based in Finland's east that transported drones, sonar equipment, processors and other electronics worth several hundred thousand euros to Russia.

In these schemes, sanctioned goods are falsely declared as being destined for Central Asia or the Balkans, while their actual destination is Russia.

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