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Pese a crecientes sanciones, maquinaria esencial importada de Asia mantiene la guerra de Rusia en Ucrania [1]

['Filip Noubel']

Date: 2024-02-28

Cuando Rusia inició su invasión de Ucrania el 24 de febrero de 2022, se vio rápidamente afectada por una serie de sanciones económicas y financieras lideradas por los países occidentales, sobre todo Estados Unidos y la Unión Europea. Poco después se unieron a las sanciones algunos países democráticos de Asia, como Japón, Corea del Sur y Taiwán, a pesar de tener un considerable comercio con Rusia. Pero aparte de esas sanciones, Asia es hoy el proveedor principal de los productos más fundamentales para el esfuerzo bélico de Rusia.

Aunque muchas de las sanciones afectan cada vez a más sectores, no siempre son efectivas por numerosas razones: la naturaleza del libre mercado y el uso de terceros países como intermediarios para evadir sanciones, el uso dual de algunos productos que pueden utilizarse para propósitos civiles y militares, la corrupción y la falta de legislación tras los nuevos esquemas. Uno de los productos que actualmente vigilan los activistas y expertos en sanciones son las máquinas CNC. Estas siglas significan Computer Numerical Control («Control Numérico de Computadores») y se refiere a complejas máquinas que pueden cortar metal u otros materiales con una forma específica. Pueden usarse en la industria, pero también resultan imprescindibles para fabricar y adaptar equipamientos militares, de tanques a partes de drones, y por eso entran en la categoría de productos de uso dual.

Global Voices conversó con Olena Yurchenko, experta en relaciones internacionales, que actualmente trabaja en las universidades de Glasgow, Tartu y Sarajevo. Yurchenko es también asesora y analista del Consejo de Seguridad Económica de Ucrania (ESCU), integra la Red de Cooperación Balcanes-Ucrania (BUCN), y tiene amplia experiencia en investigación de OSINT (Inteligencia de Fuente Abierta). La entrevista se llevó a cabo en inglés por correo electrónico y se ha editado su longitud y su estilo.

Filip Noubel (FN): ¿Por qué ha cambiado Rusia sus proveedores de máquinas CNC de Occidente a Asia?

Olena Yurchenko (OYu): According to different sources, the share of imports of metalworking equipment from Taiwan increased almost 1.5 times (the increase in value amounted to over 17 percent, over USD 18 million). As for South Korea, in 2022, it increased its share in total shipments by more than 1.4 times (in value terms, an increase of 14 percent, that is more than USD 6 million).

Although newcomers to the CNC industry, South Korea and Taiwan have rapidly progressed, even though they still lag behind industry leaders in production capabilities. Nonetheless, their affordability and satisfactory quality, especially amid blanket sanctions imposed on Russia by the US and EU, make them an attractive partner for import-dependent countries like Russia.

In South Korea, Seoul's initially lax dual-use restrictions and export control enforcement until early 2023 enabled Russia to significantly increase its imports of much needed CNC machines. Despite its close ties with the US, South Korea took decisive steps to enhance compliance with Western sanctions against Russia only a year after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia began, that is from April 2023.

Similarly, Taiwan is one of the world's foremost producers and exporters of CNC machine tools. It initially refrained from tightening export controls following the Russian invasion, leading to a notable surge in Russian imports of metalworking equipment from the country in 2022. This increase garnered international attention, notably highlighted by the case of I Machine Technology, a Russian firm importing specialised equipment, which imported over USD 20 million worth of CNC tools from Taiwan since January 2023. Some of those imports potentially fell under dual-use goods subject to export control. Despite measures introduced by Taiwanese authorities in January 2023, transactions continued, reflecting lax enforcement.

A new set of Taiwanese measures was introduced in January–February 2024. Namely, on February 7, 2024, following the Washington Post investigation about I Machine Technology, the Taiwanese Ministry of Economic Affairs added 77 items to the list of machine tools restricted from being exported to Russia and Belarus, including CNC machine tools. The ministry also requested Taiwanese manufacturers exporting to countries such as Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, which are considered to have a high risk of reshipping the products, to agree not to redirect shipments to Russia and Belarus. In addition, the penalty for first-time violations of exporting to Russia has been increased by over 15 times to TWD 1 million (USD 32,055).

Turning to figures, in 2021, Germany was in first place in Russia in the supply of equipment (24 percent of total imports), followed by Italy (18 percent), China (11 percent), Taiwan (nearly 10 percent percent), and South Korea (9 percent). As a result of the imposed restrictions, the share of supplies from Western countries in total imports of metalworking equipment decreased almost 1.8 times to 39 percent in 2022. In contrast, in 2022, China's share of imports increased to reach 43 percent, and Taiwan's reached 15 percent.

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[1] Url: https://es.globalvoices.org/2024/02/28/pese-a-crecientes-sanciones-maquinaria-esencial-importada-de-asia-mantiene-la-guerra-de-rusia-en-ucrania/

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