BMW has acknowledged that more than 100 of its luxury vehicles were sold to Russian customers, violating international sanctions imposed after the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.
The German carmaker attributed the sales to a handful of rogue employees at the Hannover facility, who have since been fired.
BMW, together with other major German manufacturers such as Volkswagen, Porsche and Mercedes, stopped direct exports to Russia at the beginning of 2022. However, the incident underlines how Western goods continue to reach the Russian market, often via so-called ‘backdoor routes’. circumvent sanctions.
While trade volumes between Germany and Russia have plummeted since the restrictions were introduced, there has been a significant increase in exports to former Soviet states such as Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Georgia – countries that are not themselves subject to sanctions. The Institute for International Finance points to a 5,500 percent increase in German car exports to Kyrgyzstan and sharp increases for Kazakhstan, Armenia and Georgia, noting that reported figures often do not match local import data, pointing to shipments with “ghost destinations ”.
A BMW spokesperson said the group has now halted all ongoing deliveries as a result of the ‘irregularities’ revealed by its internal checks. “In recent months, the products of several companies have been on sale in Russia, even though the companies themselves have acted in compliance with all applicable sanctions. This is usually the result of imports on the ‘grey market’. The BMW Group has taken a series of measures to prevent such imports.”
The spokesperson added that while the company continues to adhere to the embargo, some employees have knowingly facilitated unauthorized sales. “Further deliveries of ordered vehicles have now been halted and the decision has been made to dismiss the key employees responsible,” he said.