Aftonbladet reports that Russian drones shot down in Ukraine contained ball bearings labeled “SKF,” despite sanctions banning such exports. The Gothenburg-based manufacturer SKF is subject to sanctions that prohibit sales to Russia. Yet Aftonbladet found SKF ball bearings from the company’s Chinese factory on Russian drones.
SKF denies making the parts and says they are counterfeits. According to Russian customs data and Corisk’s analysis, up to half a billion SEK in SKF-labeled products may have reached Russia through indirect or shadow trade routes.
“It is a violation of sanctions if you knowingly sell a product to, for example, Turkey and you know that the Turkish company will send it on to Russia,” Torbjörn Becker, Director of the Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics (SITE) told Aftonbladet. However, he noted that proving intent remains a major legal hurdle for prosecutors.
In follow-up comments to Göteborgs-Posten, Becker reflected on the complexity of tracing such supply chains. While counterfeit products are common in Russia and other sanctioned economies, he questioned whether the country possesses the capability to reproduce high-tech components like precision ball bearings. He added that the copying might occur elsewhere before reaching Russia through parallel markets.
To read the full report and Torbjörn Becker’s expert commentary, visit Aftonbladet and Göteborgs-Posten.
Further Reading
Sanctions on trade target critical goods, technologies, and supply chains to disrupt Russia’s economic activity and limit access to resources that support its war effort. These measures aim to raise the cost of aggression by restricting exports to and imports from Russia. Explore the latest research on trade sanctions against Russia in the Sanctions Portal Evidence Base section.
Explore the main sanction packages imposed by Western allies after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Review Russian countermeasures, including retaliatory actions and domestic policies to reduce the sanctions’ impact. Visit the Timeline of Western Sanctions and Russian Countermeasures to learn more.
For more expert analysis and policy briefs from SITE, visit SITE’s website.
