Дайвтехносервис (aka Dive Techno Services, Divetechnoservices, etc), a Russian reseller of dive equipment in St. Petersburg, was added to the US Treasury list of sanctions for conducting business with the FSB since 2007.
diveservice.ru
home.treasury.gov/news/press-rel…
diveservice.ru
home.treasury.gov/news/press-rel…
The most notable transaction the US Treasury Department wanted to cite regarding this Russian business, and why they are prohibited from doing business with the US, was a $1.5M contract to the FSB to provide ROV(s) in 2011, 7 yrs ago.
That was the best you could come up with?
That was the best you could come up with?
What the US Dept of Treasury stated, and what is being circulated by the media, are two very different things. People should read the original Department of Treasury statement again (above) more carefully and critically and see if it matches today's headlines.
"Today’s action also targets the Russian government’s underwater capabilities."
and
"Russia has been active in tracking undersea communication cables, which carry the bulk of the world’s telecommunications data."
are two completely different sentences.
and
"Russia has been active in tracking undersea communication cables, which carry the bulk of the world’s telecommunications data."
are two completely different sentences.
If you're new to US Government press releases, you've skipped over this little detail and put both together; the sanctioned company sold technology that enabled undersea cable tapping.
US Press releases try not to lie outright, but they're really good at misleading the public.
US Press releases try not to lie outright, but they're really good at misleading the public.
The biggest ticket item the US Treasury could find was a $1.5M deal in 2011; that would be peanuts for anything to do with tapping undersea cables, and therefore probably didn't have anything to do with it.
More obviously, the FSB isn't the GUGI, who tap cables.
More obviously, the FSB isn't the GUGI, who tap cables.
The sentence is there for you to make that link in your head, that the sanctioned company is involved in the big cable-tapping headlines lately. Why? To show they did something.
"There, we're done here, we fixed that cable tapping thing with sanctions! Ta-DA!"
It's spin.
"There, we're done here, we fixed that cable tapping thing with sanctions! Ta-DA!"
It's spin.
Considering the sale of ROVs was done in 2012, the new sanctions are likely not directly related. I have been speculating that the US wants to deny the Russians spare parts to fix the ROVs they have, and sanctions on the exclusive distributer would do so.
