Maintaining "pressure on the Russian military and defense sector." This is the stated main aim of the 16th set of sanctions against Russia adopted by the European Council on Monday, February 24. The new measure will freeze the assets of 48 individuals and 35 entities. The list includes the protagonists of a scheme to circumvent European sanctions, as revealed by Le Monde and its partners in July 2024.
Our investigation shed light on the practices of a major Russian industrial group, Promtech, to continue sourcing technical components for use by the Russian army, particularly in aviation. Blacklisted by its European suppliers after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, due to European sanctions, Promtech has bounced back by creating new companies. In particular, Enütek Makina, an entity domiciled in Turkey, was used to approach European companies, including French ones, who were unaware of its links with the Russian group.
The new European sanctions explicitly target Promtech and Enütek Makina, for having facilitated circumventions of the sanctions. "In particular, Promtech JSC imported [goods subject to the restrictions] through a network of Russian subsidiaries and via the Turkish company Enutek Makina," details the implementing regulation.
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