Ukraine urges EU to stop re-export schemes used to circumvent sanctions on Russia

The sharp increase in exports of certain goods from the EU to Central Asia and the Caucasus indicates systematic re-export of products to Russia. In this context, Ukraine is calling on the European Union to make more active use of mechanisms to counter the circumvention of sanctions.

This was reported by Vladyslav Vlasiuk, the President’s Representative on Sanctions Policy, in comments to Ukrinform.

“Ukraine calls on the European Union to make broader use of the anti-circumvention tool—a mechanism to counter the circumvention of sanctions through third countries,” he emphasized.

According to him, there has already been a constructive response from Kyrgyzstan following the adoption of the EU’s 20th sanctions package, which imposed direct restrictions on the country due to the risks of re-exporting sanctioned goods to Russia. Following this, Kyrgyzstan decided to suspend the activities of 50 legal entities involved in operations with heightened sanctions risks.

“This demonstrates that the mechanism is working and encourages transit countries to strengthen control over exports and financial transactions,” Vlasiuk added.

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At the same time, the Presidential Envoy emphasized that abnormally high volumes of exports of certain categories of goods from the EU to a number of third countries have been observed for a long time.

“There are sufficient grounds to believe that some of these goods subsequently end up in Russia, despite the steps taken by the governments of certain countries to strengthen controls. Existing mechanisms for controlling and preventing re-export remain insufficient at this time. That is why we believe that the anti-circumvention tool should be applied more broadly—both with regard to goods and to specific jurisdictions,” he stated.

The Presidential Advisor cited an example that, via Hong Kong, at least EUR 47 million worth of sanctioned goods were shipped to Russia between January 2024 and February 2025 alone. These include telecommunications equipment, signal generators, oscilloscopes, and electronic components used in military communications systems, electronic warfare, navigation, and electronics manufacturing.

He also noted that shipments of CNC machine tools via Central Asia and the Caucasus are a particular cause for concern.

“Since the start of the full-scale war, exports of such machines from the EU to Uzbekistan have increased by more than 700%, and to Kazakhstan by nearly 480%. At the same time, in 2024–2025, Uzbekistan had already exported European-made CNC machine tools to Russia worth over 1.4 million euros,” noted the Presidential Envoy for Sanctions Policy.

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According to him, all this data confirms the systematic nature of using third countries to circumvent sanctions.

“Ukraine continues to work with European partners to expand the list of commodity items and jurisdictions to be included in the 21st EU sanctions package,” Vlasiuk concluded.

As reported by Ukrinform, fifty companies from Kyrgyzstan suspected of helping Russia circumvent Western sanctions for its invasion of Ukraine will be forced to suspend their operations.

Photo: OP