The countries neighboring with Russia began to import washing machines, refrigerators, electric dairy and other household appliances from Europe in large volumes, Bloomberg reports.
The publication notes that this causes European officials to be concerned: in their opinion, Russia can use some components of them “for military purposes”.
The Agency refers to the statistical service of the European Union Eurostat, according to which Armenia imported more washing machines from the EU in the first eight months of 2022 than in the last two years. The export of electrical dairy and the republic in the first half of the year exceeded the previous indicators, although the birth rate in Armenia decreased by 4.3%. The same applies to Kazakhstan: the demand for breasts from the EU grew by 633% in the first half of 2022 when the birth rate drops by 8.4%, writes Bloomberg. From January to August, refrigerators were brought to the country for $ 21.4 million – this is three times more than during the same period of last year.
At the same time, Bloomberg writes, the data of the Government of Kazakhstan indicate a sharp increase in household appliances to Russia: export of Molocousses from Kazakhstan increased more than twice in the first eight months of the year compared to 2021, refrigerators – ten times. Since the beginning of this year, the country has put in Russia to be washing vehicles at $ 7.5 million. The Russian Federal Customs Service in the spring stopped publishing statistics on import and export.
The agency does not exclude that we can talk about Russia’s attempts to cope with the deficiency of imported household appliances. In addition, Bloomberg writes, Russian companies can make out European equipment and use components and semiconductors in civilian production.
At the same time, some European officials believe that spare parts “can find application for military purposes.” Representatives of the Western authorities previously stated that the details of refrigerators and washing machines were discovered in Russian tanks after the Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine. According to the representative of the Royal United United Institute of Defense Research (British Analytical Center) James Burn, “even very complex Russian weapons systems are often built with standard microelectronic components contained in a number of commercial goods.”
European officials interviewed by Bloomberg note that household appliances do not fall under sanctions, so it is difficult to control its supply to the EAEU countries.