German logistics company helps russian producers under sanctions with imports

HT Rus, owned by a German-registered company, offers parallel import services to russian companies under sanctions.

When russian troops invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the German logistics company Hellmann Worldwide Logistics announced its withdrawal from the russian market. However, some former employees of the company's Moscow office decided to use this situation for their own benefit.

Before the Great War, Hellmann's Moscow office helped russian industrial firms deliver tools, spare parts and equipment from the West. After the invasion, such deliveries were restricted by international sanctions. A new russian company, Heinrich Tapp Rus (HT Rus), co-owned by at least two former Hellmann employees, took over the business of many of the company's old customers.

HT Rus offers clients in russia “parallel imports” - the delivery of goods through third countries, such as Turkey or the United Arab Emirates, to evade Western sanctions.

Using russian tax documents for 2023 and 2024, as well as official corporate registers in russia and Germany, Reuters found that HT Rus provides services to russian clients under international sanctions for supporting the kremlin's military machine.

The firm, which had revenues of about $17.5 million last year, works with russian clients including: Aurus, a company that produces limousines for Vladimir Putin; subsidiaries of Kamaz, a manufacturer of russian military trucks; and the Tyumen Battery Plant, a supplier of batteries to an arms manufacturer.

HT Rus is owned by a German-registered firm, whose shareholder is a German businessman, and until last month, another German was a director, according to corporate documents.

Hellmann Worldwide Logistics said it has no connection to HT Rus or the people who run it. Reuters found no evidence of sanctions violations by Hellmann.

Source: Reuters