Austria has dismantled a network through which a Vienna-based company was supplying equipment used in the manufacture of engines for Russian rockets and fighter jets, thereby violating European Union sanctions imposed on Moscow, announced the Ministry of Interior on Monday, according to Reuters.
The company forged end-user certificates to supply equipment subject to sanctions, including special tools for metal processing and CNC machines, which can be used for the production of parts and tools, the Austrian ministry specified in a statement. The institution added that the company’s director, a 28-year-old Belarusian citizen, was arrested in May.
The company, whose name was not disclosed by the ministry, concealed its transports through a network of shell companies from Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, South Korea, Poland, and Lithuania, the ministry specified.
“It is unacceptable for European high-precision technology to be diverted towards the production of cruise missiles and air defense systems,” declared Joerg Leichtfried, Austria’s deputy minister responsible for intelligence services.
“We will continue to take decisive measures (…) against those who try to evade the legal prohibitions on supporting the Russian arms industry,” added Leichtfried.
The equipment was supplied to companies affiliated with the state industrial conglomerate Rostec in Russia, the ministry specified. The latest findings of the investigators indicate that the goods were used for the manufacture of military equipment, including engines for cruise missiles and fighter aircraft.
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