The US Treasury Department has announced sanctions against over 100 individuals and entities in 16 different jurisdictions involved in Russia’s circumvention of Western sanctions. The new US restrictions apply to more than 10 transnational networks involved in the purchase of weapons and equipment for Russia, facilitating the circumvention of sanctions and supporting the Russian military-industrial complex.
One of these networks imported components for the sanctioned Russian Promtekh through companies in Turkey, France, and Hong Kong. A few months ago, Trap Aggressor, the German edition of the Süddeutsche Zeitung, NDR, WDR, and the French Le Monde were the first to reveal the network of companies of the Russian Promtekh group. Journalists have also investigated the supply chain of foreign components to Russia.
French company ITGF, in particular, was subject to US sanctions. This company used to belong to Promtekh, and in 2022 all of ITGF’s shares were transferred to the Hong Kong-based Interasia Trading Group Limited.
Interasia Trading Group Limited (Interasia Trading, which is also now under US sanctions) is the sole owner of ITGF. Russian citizen Igor Reutov is the executive director of ITGF. Reutov also owns the Estonian company Free Sky Solutions OU (Free Sky) and is the managing partner of the French Aerialia. Aerialia was established in January 2024.
ITGF also created the Turkish company Enütek Makina Sanayi ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi (Enütek). Enütek has made hundreds of deliveries, including high-priority dual-use technologies such as electronic integrated circuits and ceramic capacitors to Promtekh’s U.S. subsidiaries.
Russian customs data show that ITGF actively supplied Western products to Russia until February 24, 2022. ITGF’s customers were mostly Promtekh enterprises. The company was founded in 2015, and until May 2022, 100% of the shares were owned by Promtekh JSC. The company’s first CEO was Alexei Shadrin, who is the son of Valery Shadrin, the head of Russia’s Promtech.
Important decisions for the company were made together with Alexei Shadrin. For example, replacing the CEO, changing the company’s name, and transferring shares. The signatures of both Shadrins are in the notes of the extraordinary general meetings in 2018 and 2019. Also, the minutes of the meetings from 2015 to 2023 contain information that ITGF has an account with VTB Bank France SA.
Later, ITGF created the Turkish company Enütek, which during 2023 provided Shadrin’s Russian Promtekh with accessories that could be used, in particular, for the needs of the Russian defence industry.
Other important details about the network of illegal supplies of Western products to the Russian concern Promtekh are in the Trap Aggressor investigation.