Russia through the Figure Companies in Hong Kong receives sub -sensors and chips - New York Times
The publication found that in Hong Kong in a multi -storey office building at 135 Bonham Strand, at least four companies operate with a shadow mission: to promote illegal trade in Western technologies in Russia. Fictitious companies have purchased millions of prohibited chips and sensors for military technological companies in Russia at this address, many of which have been sanctioned by the US Government. Companies have names such as Olax Finance and Rikkon Holding.
According to the analysis of Russian customs data, corporate records, domain registrations and sanctions data conducted by Times after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, more than 6,000 companies worth more than $ 4 billion were sent to Russia. Among them are the above Hong Kong companies with 135 Bonham Strand. Russian technology imports begin with the fact that American chip manufacturers sell their products to international distributors.
Companies engaged in the production of chips and are not obliged to track where their goods go. Russia also turned to international distributors - which, according to The Times Analysis, are located in Hong Kong, China, Turkey, India, Serbia and Singapore - to maintain continuous supply of technology. Some intermediary companies are part of ancient offshore companies owned by Russian businessmen.
According to The Times Analysis, the 135 Bonham Strand is four false companies belong to oligarchs related to Russia's military-industrial base. The speed at which the false companies began to operate was stunned by Western regulators. As soon as one supplier is removed, new ones appear in its place, sometimes with the same owner. Most companies on 135 Bonham Strand belong to Russian businessmen. According to the newspaper, the US government remains at least a step behind.
Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the Department for Control of Foreign Assets, the Ministry of Finance Agency, which manages the US sanctions program, has appointed at least 4,234 Russian individuals and companies for economic restrictions, according to OpenSanctions, a supplier of sanctions. But because of the large number of companies, as well as the creation of new ones that work for Russia, it is very difficult to block them in a timely manner.
"We have lost control of the production of circuits," said Elina Rybakova, an economist at the Institute of International Economics of Peterson. The publication also notes that some intermediary companies are part of ancient offshore companies owned by Russian businessmen. It should be reminded that on March 30 it was reported that several Russian companies use Shi-algorithms that work thanks to chips from such American manufacturers as Intel and NVidia.