The Defense Secretary said the government would take a “very close look” after Sky News found British exports were almost certainly helping Russia's war effort in Ukraine.
Drone equipment and heavy machinery are among the items being sent to countries including Kyrgyzstan, Armenia and Uzbekistan, where it is believed they will be sent to other countries. Russia.
It undermines the UK's formal sanctions regime and strengthens Vladimir Putin's war machine, said Ed Conway, economics and data editor at Sky.
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Shapps says the government will investigate the apparent circumvention of sanctions
defense minister Grant Shapps He told the Commons on Thursday: “I have read at length Ed Conway's excellent article on this issue.
“In fact, when sanctions are imposed at first, they tend to work, but eventually they will work their way up and find another way into the market.
“As Ed Conway pointed out in the matter, this is an international problem… I can assure him that the British government will be taking a very close look.”
Officially, flows of heavy machinery, electrical equipment and cars from the UK to Russia have fallen to almost zero – the government described it as the “toughest package of economic sanctions ever imposed”.
but, Sky News analysis Of Britain's official trade statistics gives a different view.
It shows that while British companies' exports to Russia fell sharply, exports to various former Soviet satellite states rose at an unprecedented rate.
Among the items being exported are large quantities of “dual-use” items that can be reused in weapons.
Exports to four countries have risen by more than 500% since the outbreak of war, and worryingly the largest category of goods sent are “parts of aircraft, helicopters or drones”.
UK exports of sanctioned items
Exporting major items to the UK
For example, British exports to Kyrgyzstan, a small former Soviet satellite, have risen by more than 1,100%.
These exports are dominated by heavy machinery and vehicles that can no longer be sent directly to Russia.
They also rose almost as sharply to Armenia, which, according to Robin Brooks – a former chief economist at the Institute of International Finance, recorded a sharp increase in its exports to Russia.
British goods exports to Armenia
Brooks said that the matter has been going on for some time, and that other European countries, especially Germany and Poland, are also sending large quantities of devices to Russia through these countries.
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He told Sky News that the companies “are clearly receiving a request from somewhere and it is a Russian satellite based in one of the Central Asian countries.”
He said the rise in exports was “absolutely insane” and that Russia was “the only reasonable explanation.”
Before Shapps' comments, the government told Sky News that it was constantly trying to tighten the sanctions regime.
A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “Any failure to comply with these tough sanctions is a serious offense and is punishable by significant financial penalties or criminal prosecution.”
Minister of Foreign Affairs Lord Cameron The United Kingdom added 50 more people and companies to its sanctions list on Thursday.
Sanctions have been imposed on about 2,000 individuals and companies since the start of the war two years ago, according to the State Department.
The latest measures target companies linked to munitions manufacturing, importers and Russian manufacturers of machine tools, and oil and diamond traders.
