The Low Road

Oleg Patsulya, a Russian national, and his business partner were arrested in the U.S. for violating broad technical sanctions imposed against Russia in the wake of the country’s February 2022 invasion of neighboring Ukraine.

Investigation of the alleged crimes revealed Patsulya and his partner, whose name remains undisclosed, sent sanctioned aircraft components—including 737 wheel-brake systems—to at least three Russian airlines by dint of a network of companies scattered across Florida, Turkey, and Russia.

Authorities believe many such networks exist across the world, each operated by individuals and organizations eager to profit, substantially, by helping Russia circumvent Western technological, data, and monetary sanctions.

Compiled and analyzed by Import Genius, a U.S.-based trade data-aggregator, data germane to Patsulya et al.’s alleged crimes indicated aircraft parts worth tens-of-millions of dollars were sent to Russian air-carriers explicitly under sanction. Subject carriers included: Rossiya Airlines, Aeroflot, Ural Airlines, S7 Airlines, Utair Aviation, and Pobeda Airlines.

In all, the data crunched by Import Genius suggests the aggregate value of U.S.-made aircraft components and systems illegally sent into Russia during an eight-months period in 2022 exceeded $14.4-million. The antecedent figure includes some $8.9-million worth of parts ostensibly manufactured or trademarked by the Boeing Company and secreted into Russia through third parties.

The majority of the contraband parts were routed through the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, China, and the Maldives—countries not openly hostile toward the U.S., but antithetical to Western mores and folkways. A handful of the shipments, however, including those to Rossiya Airlines, were sent directly from the United States or Europe.

A similar means of supplying Russia with verboten goods and services was formerly described by a Lithuanian news outlet which reported on a network of companies in Italy, Turkey, and Russia by which sanctioned aircraft components, systems, software, and technical data have been routed to Russia by way of shady deals and falsified shipping manifests.

FMI: www.importgenius.com