The charm of the ruble. For whom the war does not prevent exporting to Russia

In November 2023, the United States included Mahmudov, Bokarev and the related company “Transmasholding” on the list of sanctions, joining Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand.

“In 2022, Russian officials involved Transmash in the production of parts for infantry fighting vehicles,” according to the US Treasury Department in the statement. “In addition, Bokarev has personal ties to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, as well as other high-ranking Kremlin people and their families. Bokarev is also connected with organized crime and since 2022 he has been trying to avoid sanctions (..) by creating shell companies that may be connected to money laundering.”

For reasons that are not clear, they are both still not on the EU sanctions lists. Inclusion can be proposed by each country, but only with the consent of all. In the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Re:Baltica said that to include a person in the sanctions list, there must be sufficiently detailed evidence of “in what way the person is complicit in undermining the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine.” Currently, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is consulting with other countries, clarifying information that would strengthen the evidence base. The Ministry has no information that “RER” exports dual-use goods.

“Latvian authorities do not consider Bokarev and Mahmudov a threat to national security, despite the fact that they supply the Russian army,” wrote “Insider”. “What’s more, the Latvian authorities continue to give money from EU funds to the oligarchs.” Re:Baltica made sure that news about EU-funded projects is almost the main thing that it reports about itself for the media on the website.

The company did not respond to Re:Baltica’s questions until the publication of the article, explaining that two working days would not be enough to prepare answers.