Netherlands Seeing Rise in Shipments to Countries Helping Russia Evade Sanctions
The Netherlands said it’s seeing an uptick in exports of sanctioned goods to countries with a history of helping Russia evade sanctions, with many of those exports being sent by smaller firms that entered the market within the last couple of years.
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A December report published by Statistics Netherlands, a Dutch government agency focused on data and statistics, said the country is seeing a “remarkable number” of newer firms ship sanctioned products to countries “with an elevated risk of sanctions circumvention,” including Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Serbia, Turkey and Turkmenistan. Although the agency said it can’t definitively say whether those exports are being diverted to Russia, shipping data suggests they may be.
While exports of sanctioned goods to those seven countries have “seen a striking increase,” exports from those countries directly to Russia “have not decreased, and in some cases have actually increased,” it said. “This could indicate that sanctioned goods from the Netherlands are continuing to reach Russia via these third countries.”
The Netherlands said the largest uptick in exports of those countries to Russia has come from Turkey’s machinery sector. In both 2022 and 2023, bulldozers, shovels, excavators and similar machinery “were the most exported category of machinery” by value from Turkey to Russia, it said.