The Security Service of Ukraine exposed a large-scale scheme to circumvent anti-Russian sanctions, organized by the Kyiv Central Design Bureau of Armature Construction.
According to the Security Service of Ukraine, “It is a monopolist in the field of development, mass production and supply of pipeline fittings for nuclear power plants.”
Until February 2022, the company exported its products to Russia through its own dealer in Moscow.
The details added that the main customer was the Russian state corporation Rosatom, which uses Ukrainian pipeline fittings for the construction of power units at 5 nuclear power plants in different countries of the world.
The Kyiv bureau continued this cooperation even after the full-scale invasion, the ban on the export of goods to the customs territory of the Russian Federation, and the introduction of sanctions against Rosatom.
For this, a scheme for bypassing sanction restrictions was developed. Controlled foreign firms acted as fictitious customers of Ukrainian products.
When leaving Ukraine, the goods were “reissued” to the actual recipients – companies under the control of “Rosatom” that build nuclear power plants. That is, after crossing the border, he drove “on a new route.”
At the same time, the representatives of “Rosatom” carried out the certification of pipeline fittings manufactured in Kyiv online.
According to operational data, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the sections have carried out 16 export operations in favor of the Russian Federation in the amount of about 42 million hryvnias.
On the basis of the collected evidence, SBU investigators informed the general director of the Kyiv Bureau and two of his subordinates about the suspicion under Art. 111-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (assistance to the aggressor state).
During the searches, documents, computer equipment and means of communication with evidence of illegal activity were seized from the suspects.
The court chose them as a preventive measure in the form of detention without bail. Perpetrators face up to 12 years in prison.
The investigation is ongoing in order to establish all the circumstances of the crime and bring to justice other participants of the arrangement.
Comprehensive measures were carried out under the procedural guidance of the Office of the Prosecutor General.