British TV station Sky News broadcast a report from the Georgian border where “luxury cars are pouring in” from Russia. “Moscow has no shortage of sanctions goods, so everyone is a winner except Ukraine,” the TV reporter noted.
According to Sky News, to get around the sanctions, Russia is using Georgian and Azerbaijani intermediaries to export European cars, who legally import the vehicles from EU countries and then transport them to Russian territory through a well-organized network of contacts. British TV journalist Ed Conway commented:
“The checkpoint’s parking lot is full of luxury cars from brands like Mercedes, Lamborghini, Porsche, BMW and others. The cars arrive at the border directly from dealers in Tbilisi and sometimes directly from unloading ports on the Black Sea. The drivers who deliver the cars to the temporary parking lot don’t know where a particular car comes from, but it is probably a model manufactured in the UK and the European Union. After the car is delivered to the border, another group of people is responsible for processing the necessary paperwork.”
Conway lists the various ways cars can be transported in Russia.
“One of them is that the car is registered in Armenia and cleared through customs before arriving at the northern border. People bringing cars into Russia are sometimes advised to say that they are just going through Russia to Kyrgyzstan. This is so ridiculous that everyone at the border, including the police and Georgian border guards, apparently knows this is not true. Eventually, the car is issued with a transit license plate and is allowed to cross the border. Georgians can travel to Russia visa-free and vice versa, so the transport of the car is actually a formality. Selected people leave the car on the Russian side and wait for the right person to pick up the goods. This process can be repeated several times a day,” Conway said.
The Sky News reporter suggested that if hard-to-conceal items like cars can be imported into Russia so easily, it “can certainly be assumed” the same is happening with other items, including military equipment.
“The Russian economy remains thriving and Moscow has no shortage of sanctions-targeted goods, while countries such as Georgia and Azerbaijan have seen phenomenal economic growth and are acting as informal trade channels. Everyone is a winner, except Ukraine,” the British journalist said.
Meanwhile, Sky News adds that imports of European cars into Belarus are on the rise. According to the Polish Institute of Economics, Germany exports 42% of its cars to Belarus and thus Russia, followed by Poland (27%) and Lithuania (10%).
