Key facts
- Austria has dismantled a scheme supplying equipment for Russian missile and fighter jet engines.
- The scheme involved a Vienna-based company falsifying end-user certificates to bypass EU sanctions.
- Shipments were concealed through shell companies in Turkey, UAE, Hong Kong, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, South Korea, Poland, and Lithuania.
- The equipment was supplied to entities affiliated with Russian state industrial conglomerate Rostec.
- The 28-year-old Belarusian head of the company was arrested in May.
- Seized equipment and tools are valued at approximately €140,000, with total deliveries exceeding €3.3 million since 2022.
Austria has successfully dismantled a sanctions evasion operation that supplied equipment used in the production of engines for Russian missiles and fighter jets, violating European Union sanctions. The interior ministry announced that a Vienna-based company falsified end-user certificates to ship specialized metalworking tools and CNC machines to entities affiliated with the Russian state industrial conglomerate Rostec.
The scheme utilized a network of shell companies across nine countries, including Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, South Korea, Poland, and Lithuania, to conceal the shipments. Austrian authorities arrested the 28-year-old Belarusian head of the company in May and seized CNC machines and specialized tools valued at approximately €140,000 ($162,000). Investigators found evidence indicating that industrial goods worth over €3.3 million had been delivered to Russian arms manufacturers since 2022.
Austria's junior minister for intelligence, Joerg Leichtfried, stated that it is unacceptable for European technology to be diverted to produce cruise missiles and air-defense systems, vowing continued action against those attempting to circumvent bans supporting the Russian arms industry.