Russia circumventing sanctions, obtaining spare parts for shadow fleet from Finnish company

According to Ukrinform, this is stated in an investigation by Yle.

According to Yle’s investigative journalism unit MOT, spare parts from Wärtsilä worth around €6 million were delivered to Russia between 2023 and 2025.

Shadow fleet vessels involved in transporting Russian oil and thus financing the war against Ukraine also use products manufactured by the Finnish company.

One of the key intermediaries is Arnika Trade LLC, located on the outskirts of Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia.

The company shipped Wärtsilä engine spare parts to Russia worth more than €1 million. The countries of dispatch reportedly included China, the United Arab Emirates, India, and even the Maldives.

Arnika’s sole client is the Russian company Elite Shipping, which in turn cooperates with, among others, Prime Shipping – one of Russia’s largest carriers of oil and petroleum products.

The network established by Russia includes dozens of intermediary companies. Nearly 60 Russian firms have purchased Wärtsilä spare parts since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The number of sellers exceeds one hundred, most of them based in China, the UAE, and Turkey.

Wärtsilä’s Director of Corporate and Legal Affairs, Nora Steiner-Forsberg, told Yle that the company takes sanctions seriously.

“Unfortunately, there are market participants who circumvent sanctions. This is a common problem for all international companies,” Steiner-Forsberg said.

Wärtsilä exited the Russian market shortly after the start of Russia’s war against Ukraine in 2022, and the company does not want its products to be sold to Russia.

The company’s contracts include a clause prohibiting customers from re-exporting products to Russia. Steiner-Forsberg declined to comment on whether Wärtsilä has taken action against any clients for violating contract terms.

As previously reported by Ukrinform, Finnish Customs stated on Thursday, January 1, that steel products subject to international sanctions were found aboard a detained vessel suspected of damaging communication cables.