Short-circuiting sanctions How Belarusian companies funnel Western-made microchips to Russia for missiles and fighter jets
Belarusian companies have funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of Western-made microchips into Russia, defying sanctions and helping the Kremlin build drones, fighter jets, and missiles, according to a new report from the Belarusian Investigative Center. Many of these firms are led by individuals with close ties to Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko. Various schemes route components through the E.U. and Asia, with paperwork altered once shipments cross the Belarusian border. Meduza breaks down the report’s key findings.
From September 2022 to June 2024, Belarusian companies sold more than $125 million worth of microchips to Russian companies. Despite Western sanctions, some of these components — valued at nearly $400,000 — were of Western origin, according to a new report from the Belarusian Investigative Center (BIC).
Over nearly two years, Belarus exported almost 10,000 microchips manufactured in the U.S. and Europe to Russia. Among them were chips from the American company Intel, which are used in the launch and navigation of aerial bombs. Intel components are also compatible with Su-35S and Su-34 fighter jets, Korsar drones, and Kalibr missiles.
One of the companies supplying these microchips is Aleksvit Ltd. Between September 2022 and June 2023, it shipped 131 U.S., Finnish, and German-made microchips to Russia. The company’s owner, Sergei Borisyuk, is a former deputy chairman of Belarus’s State Customs Committee. BIC alleges the company is linked to Viktar Sheiman, a close ally of Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko’s who led the Presidential Affairs Department until 2021. When a journalist posed as a representative of a company seeking to order microchips from Europe for shipment to Russia, a representative of Aleksvit Ltd. said they only handle large orders.
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Another company, Logisticheskaya Kompaniya Vostok, reportedly sold more than 1,500 U.S.-made microchips to Russia. Between December 2022 and March 2023, the firm exported over 215,000 microchips to Russia, valued at nearly $800,000. Logisticheskaya Kompaniya Vostok is owned by Aliaksei Matveyeu, who worked for the Belarusian Tennis Federation from 2017 to 2019, which was headed at the time by businessman Sergei Teterin. As an associate of Lukashenko, Teterin is under E.U. sanctions.
Logisticheskaya Kompaniya Vostok told journalists they don’t handle logistics directly but assist with customs “clearance.” When goods are purchased in Europe, the company appears as the buyer in the documentation. Once the shipment reaches Belarus, it’s listed as the seller, and the actual customer is recorded as the buyer in the final paperwork.
OFS-Export is another company with ties to Lukashenko involved in selling microchips to Russia. Between October 2022 and February 2024, it sold more than 1,200 chips to Russian enterprises, according to the investigation. Journalists linked the company to Aliaksandr Shakutsin, the owner of Amkodor holding, who is under U.S. and E.U. sanctions for serving as Lukashenko’s “moneybag.”
Another key supplier is SD Electro, whose products are purchased by the Russian firm Green-Chip, which reportedly sells to Russia’s defense industry. Green-Chip confirmed it could source microchips from the U.S. and Europe. In a phone call with a BIC journalist posing as a potential buyer, a company employee said they could procure chips from the U.S., Germany, Malaysia, and Taiwan. The representative explained that “these kinds of items” are available only by special order: delivery takes six to ten weeks if the chips are in stock or 12 to 15 weeks if complex components need to be manufactured, plus an additional two to three weeks for shipping. “There is a company in Europe that consolidates the European warehouse, and then the goods come here. So there are two routes — either through Europe or through Asia, depending on the type of microchip,” the representative said.
BIC estimates that the largest supplier of Western microchips from Belarus to Russia is Pervy Kontinent, a company established just two months after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. From January to June 2024 alone, Pervy Kontinent sold 1,665 microchips to Russian firms, valued at $155,000. BIC identified the company’s owner as Ilya Tarasyuk, who has nearly 20 years of experience working in Belarus’s defense industry. The company’s primary buyer in Russia is Staut, a firm under U.S. and E.U. sanctions.
Cover photo: Meduza