US-based Haas Automation allegedly still indirectly supplies Russian arms industry with technology; incl. co. comments
U.S. company Haas appears to still indirectly supply Russian arms industry with technology, 4 August 2023
Back in March, "NewsHour" revealed allegations that American machine tools giant Haas Automation sold millions of dollars' worth of its technology to the Russian arms industry via its former distributor Abamet.
Haas denied the story and claimed it had halted sales to Russia as soon as Moscow sent troops into Ukraine in early 2022. But, according to new research, Haas may still be supplying the Russian arms industry indirectly...
...Novosibirsk instrument building plan, known as NPZ in Russian. It manufactures high-end optics used by the Russian military for everything from targeting systems to Russia's weapons to night vision for its infantry...NPZ isn't alone in being partial to Haas machine tools. They're used throughout the Russian military industrial complex, because they can be programmed to mill, cut or shave metal into almost any shape necessary. For years, Haas sold machine tools in Russia via its official distributor, Abamet Management LTD.
Even though sanctions have been in place against the Russian defense industry for almost a decade as a result of the annexation of Crimea, only after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year did Haas officially sever its relationship with Abamet and made — quote — "no direct or indirect shipments or sales to Russia" since March 3, 2022...
Denys Hutyk is an adviser at the Economic Security Council of Ukraine, or ESCU. He told "NewsHour" spare parts needed to maintain the Haas machines already being used in Russia continue to flow into the country via a mysterious firm in China called Suzhou Sup Bestech Machine Tools Co., LTD. that doesn't seem to have a Web site or phone number, and was set up just two weeks after Haas officially pulled out of Russia...
Customs records reviewed by "NewsHour" show that Haas-branded spare parts were being shipped to Russia as recently as April of this year, more than a year after Haas says it halted any sales or shipments to the country.
Many of the spare parts appear to be made specifically for a Haas model VF-2YT machine tool, one of which, according to Russian state procurement records, is owned by the NPZ plant in Novosibirsk, 2,000 miles east of Moscow...
We reached out to Haas to inform the company that its equipment continued to be shipped to Russia via the Chinese intermediary company. They didn't agree to an interview, but said in an e-mail response that they had no records of sales to the entity and that any sales to Russia were being made by third parties, in contravention of Haas policy...
Haas has repeatedly told us it..."voluntarily" stopped doing business in Russia last year after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but sectoral sanctions have been in place against the Russian arms industry since 2014...