Maldives transit point for shipments circumventing sanctions against Russia: Report
Jul 22, 2023
Male [Maldives], July 22 : Maldives is a transit point for shipments that circumvent sanctions against Russia, Nikkei Asia reported, adding that it includes shipments of US-made semiconductors to Russia.
Approximately 400,000 US-made semiconductors, worth a total of USD 53.6 million, were shipped to Russia via the Maldives, in the year after Russia invaded Ukraine, as per Russian customs clearance data obtained from the Indian research firm Export Genius and analysed by Nikkei.
The records analysed covered shipments valued at over USD 50,000 (approximately seven million yen) each. The Maldives was second only to China, including Hong Kong, in terms of such imports in the year after the invasion. Records for the year before the invasion covering transactions of the same minimum value show no such shipments of chips from the Maldives to Russia, according to Nikkei Asia.
Data from the United Nations shows that the Maldives' total exports in 2021, excluding services, came to approximately USD 280 million. The value of US semiconductor shipments from the Maldives to Russia is equivalent to 20 per cent of this figure.
Shipments of semiconductors increased sharply in May 2022, the same month that Russian airline giant Aeroflot resumed flights between Male, the capital of the Maldives, and Moscow. The flights had been suspended due to the invasion of Ukraine that February.
According to senior consulting director at Omdia, Akira Minamikawa, this sudden increase came despite the fact that the Maldives semiconductor market is nonexistent.
Going by customs data, 14 exporters sent semiconductors from the Maldives to Russia. None of those companies appeared to be based in the Maldives.
Furher according to Nikkei Asia, one such company, the London-headquartered Mykines Corp, exported approximately USD 40 million worth of chips, or 80 per cent of the total shipments revealed in the Nikkei analysis.
The No. 2 company on the list was Hong Kong-based Pixel Devices. Pixel in an email to Nikkei acknowledged that it exports to Russian companies but said it "strictly adheres to the export control laws applicable to Hong Kong entities" and "deemed not to violate any applicable regulations."
The company declined to comment on questions relating to potential sanctions violations against Russia or about the Maldives.
Key to such shipments is freight forwarders or intermediaries that connect shippers and transporters and handle customs procedures on their behalf, according to Nikkei Asia.
