#Russia_Sanctions: By increasing imports of household appliences from Kazakhstan and Armenia, Russia is allegedly circumventing Western sanctions. The free movement of goods within the Eurasian Union guarantees Russia a continuous supply of Western-made refrigerators, washing⤵️
machines and electric breast pumps: 1) Kazakhstan imported 3 times more refrigerators from the EU than in 2021. The export of EU-made electric breast pumps to Kazakhstan soared by around 600% and to Armenia by 3 times (despite falling birthrates of 8.4% and 4.3% respectively);⤵️ 
2) On the other hand, the re-export of washing machines from Kazakhstan to Russia this year is worth $7.5 million. The volume of shipped refrigerators was 10 times higher; 3) Russia is reported to be using semiconductors extracted from civilian manufacturing to supply the⤵️
military sector which is in technological starvation due to sanctions. Trade figures within the Eurasian Union show that Russia is growing a dependence on imports (and re-exports) from Armenia and Kazakhstan that are not aligned with Western sanctions. It should be noted that⤵️
Russia is also using parallel imports to obtain the sanctioned goods. Even if they can apply restrictions to certain types of trade, they must justify them and still risk retaliation (embargoes, weaponization of the energy dependencies on Russia).⤵️
This leaves the EU with only one option to limit export to members of the Eurasian Union (which is a customs union) as a way to reduce sanctions evasion by Russia. This is unlikely given the growing geopolitical role the EU wants to play in building stability in the South⤵️
Caucasus. Similarly, the EU wants to build on the momentum of strengthening political dialogue with Kazakhstan, which is undergoing some political liberalization and trying to carefully manage relations with Russia, while condemning its aggression against Ukraine.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
