EU structures react to our investigation into luxury car imports
Our investigation into luxury cars prompted reactions from European authorities and businesses, as well as from Belarusian democratic forces..
The European Commission has called on companies to closely monitor the export of premium cars to ensure that they do not enter Russia via Belarus, thus circumventing sanctions.
“The export of luxury goods to Russia is forbidden. EU operators should have in place adequate due diligence procedures to ensure that their exports are not diverted to Russia. It is for EU Member States to implement EU sanctions”, Daniel Sheridan Ferrie, a representative of the European Commission, told Buro.
The interests of the 14 largest car brands are represented by the European Association of Automobile Manufacturers (ACEA). Among them are BMW, Volkswagen, Renault, Ferrari, Mercedes–Benz and others. ACEA stated that it maintains relations with 30 national automobile associations in Europe that represent vehicle manufacturers and/or importers in their respective countries.
“However, this is not the case in Belarus, and we do not have local knowledge or contact with Belarusian dealers who may be re-exporting European vehicles in Belarus. As such, we are unable to provide more specific comment on this matter”, noted an ACEA representative.
In early December, Buro published an investigation with the Russian web publication Verstka into how European luxury cars are entering Russia via Belarus, thus circumventing sanctions. Businessmen close to Lukashenka’s entourage also participate in the shady schemes.
“To date, the import of such cars into the territory of Belarus is not prohibited. Unfortunately, some individuals and companies are ready to resell these cars to Russia in violation of sanctions, thereby committing crimes under EU law. By helping Russia to evade the sanctions imposed on it, by participating in the creation of schemes to circumvent these sanctions, Belarus is potentially becoming a candidate for the introduction of similar restrictive measures against the country”, Pavel Latushka, the official responsible for sanctions pressure at the United Transitional Cabinet for Transition of Power, head of the National Anti-Crisis Management, said in comments to Buro.
According to him, the resale of sanctioned luxury cars through Belarus to Russia was made possible due to “the economic sanctions against Russia and the Lukashenka regime not being harmonized”. Cars worth over 50,000 euros cannot be supplied to Russia due to an EU ban. However, this restriction does not apply to Belarus.
The harmonization of economic sanctions, especially trade sanctions, can be an effective tool to solve this problem”, stated Latushka.
However, he states that the introduction of new EU sanctions against the Lukashenka regime has largely stalled. This is due to “the position of certain EU countries who wish to link the harmonization of economic sanctions with the easing of restrictions on Belarusian potash fertilizers”.
The National Anti-Crisis Management and Buro handed over the results of the investigation personally to the EU Sanctions Envoy, David O’Sullivan.
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