The Norwegian Police Security Service (PST) is investigating 12 cases of violations of the Sanctions Act and the Export Control Act. Most of the cases concern Russia.
– It is our responsibility to prosecute violations of the Sanctions Act, and we see that there has been an increase in the number of cases after the invasion of Ukraine. There are also cases that deal with goods that cannot be sold to Russian companies, says Nina Bakken, head of the prosecution section in PST.
Senior advisor Martin Bernsen in PST says they are now looking at 12 cases that concern possible violations of the Sanctions Act or the Export Control Act.
PST does not want to go into specifics about what the various cases are about, but Bernsen says that most of the cases concern Russia.
The sanctions will reduce Russia’s ability to finance the war.
In a press release from February, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs states that trade between Norway and Russia is falling sharply.
“In the fourth quarter of 2022, trade decreased by 65 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2021. In January 2023, trade fell by 80 percent compared to January 2022,” the press release states.
Increased exports
Last September, E24 wrote that Norwegian exports to Russia increased after the invasion. This was shown by a compilation of Statistics Norway figures in a report from the analysis company Corisk.
According to the report, Norway was the Nordic country that maintained the most trade with Russia.
Fire dronesaker
In addition to the twelve cases they have under investigation, four are about the use of drones.
The sanctions regulations prohibit Russians from operating aircraft and drones in Norway.
The four drone cases have previously been discussed in the media.
In October last year, the oligarch’s son Andrey Yakunin (47) was arrested in Hammerfest and charged with illegally flying a hobby drone over Svalbard.
Yakunin was acquitted in December. By then, two Russian citizens had already been sentenced for flying a drone illegally, to 90 days and 120 days in prison, respectively.
The case has been up in the Supreme Court, but the decision is not clear.
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