Exports from the European Union (EU) worth $2.9 billion for Kazakhstan are “lost” in Russia, the Financial Times reports.
“Taking into account all EU trade taken together in the year since the start of the war in Ukraine, the gap between the EU and Kazakhstan statistics means that $2.9 billion worth of trade has been lost between the two countries,” the article says.
Journalists’ analysis confirms that restricted goods are far more likely to become ghost exports than other goods.
These goods, which the EU believes could potentially be used by the military or intelligence services and are subject to export controls, may have entered Russia directly from the EU under the pretext that they were only in transit.
According to the analysis, the Financial Times comes to the conclusion that some categories, including gas turbines, soldering irons and broadcasting equipment, do not appear to have reached their intended destinations.
“In the 13 months prior to the war, Lithuania reported sending $28 million worth of statistically traceable dual-use goods to Kazakhstan, while Kazakhstan reported receiving only KZT9 million,” the article says.
Lithuanian data show that reported exports to the country increased by $56 million over this period, but reported imports increased by only $2 million.
“These mirror data [comparison of export and import records] are never identical, but discrepancies and a sudden spike suggest that there is something there. There is real export to Kazakhstan. But in some cases it is clear that this is sanctions evasion,” said Heli Simola, senior economist at the Institute for Emerging Economies at the Bank of Finland.
Source: KazTAG