Germany arrests man accused of supplying machine tools to Russian defense industry

The company, where the suspect was a DIRECTOR, sold equipment to RUSSIA at least four times, the final recipient of which was defense enterprises.This is a direct violation of sanctions and a ban on the EXPORT of such goods to our country.

In Germany, a citizen of the country, Alexander S., was arrested, accused of violating export restrictions, according to the federal prosecutor's office. According to the prosecution, he sold industrial equipment to intermediaries in Russia, after which they were transferred to Russian defense enterprises.

The arrest warrant for Alexander S. was issued on 12 May. He was arrested by the customs office of the Leipzig Criminal Police. His house and the premises of his company were searched. “The accused is suspected of violating the law on foreign trade. In two episodes, he is suspected of exporting goods to Russia without the necessary permission <...>. The other two are accused of violating the ban on the sale and commercial actions in the interests of a foreign intelligence agency, ”the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

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The arrest warrant describes the details of the charge. The accused is the managing director of a trading company in Saxony. She maintained a business relationship with a firm in Russia that prosecutors allege is controlled by the Russian security service. The Russian firm acted as an intermediary, buying high-quality machine tools from Germany, after which they went to Russian enterprises in the defense sector.

Two contracts between a Russian and a German company were concluded in the fourth quarter of 2018. The final recipient of the equipment was to be Russian defense enterprises engaged in developments in the transport sector. The German prosecutor's office has not yet established whether the equipment supplied to Russia was classified as a dual-use product. Two more episodes of sale and purchase were made in June and July 2019 - in this case, the prosecutor's office confirmed that dual-use equipment was sent for export. To hide where the machines were delivered, the export documents indicated dummy intermediary firms.