Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on February 26, 2026
2 min readLast updated: April 2, 2026
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The EU pressed Kyrgyzstan to stop re-exporting sanctioned EU goods to Russia. Envoy David O’Sullivan flagged surging imports of radio gear and machine tools, warning Brussels may tighten measures if evasion persists.
By Aigerim Turgunbaeva
BISHKEK, Feb 26 (Reuters) - The EU expects Kyrgyzstan to crack down on the re-export of European goods to Russia, a senior EU official said on Thursday during a visit to the tiny Central Asian state that has become a conduit for equipment banned under sanctions against Moscow.
Since Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, a close Russian ally that borders China, has become one of the world's fastest-growing economies, expanding by an average of 9% a year.
EU sanctions envoy David O'Sullivan said Brussels was concerned over surging imports to Kyrgyzstan of radio equipment and machine tools destined for re-export to Russia, in violation of sanctions on goods with potential military uses.
"We have reason to believe that the trade flows indicate that these goods are being imported into Kyrgyzstan with the sole purpose of being re-exported to Russia in breach of our sanctions," he told a press conference.
"What is disturbing for us is the fact that there has been a significant and very noticeable percentage, a big increase in the percentages of your imports and re-export of these products compared to the pre-war period."
The Financial Times this month cited an internal European Commission document that said imports of "common high-priority items" from the EU to Kyrgyzstan are up 800% since the outbreak of the Ukraine war, with Kyrgyz exports to Russia up 1,200%.
Several Kyrgyz banks and cryptocurrency firms have already been sanctioned by Western powers for helping Moscow evade sanctions, and the EU is considering more measures. Kyrgyzstan called sanctions on its companies "one-sided" and "interference in the country's internal affairs".
O'Sullivan said the EU respects Kyrgyzstan's need for a close economic relationship with Russia, where many of its citizens travel for work.
"We are not asking Kyrgyzstan not to have trading relations with Russia," he said. "We only ask that that trading relationship does not involve the deliberate circumvention of our sanctions by the transmission through Kyrgyzstan of sanctioned EU goods to Russia."
(Reporting by Aigerim Turgunbaeva, Writing by Felix Light; Editing by Mark Trevelyan and Peter Graff)
The EU urged Kyrgyzstan to clamp down on sanctions evasion by stopping the re-export of EU goods to Russia, focusing on dual-use items such as radio equipment and machine tools.
Radio equipment and machine tools, including CNC machinery, which can have military applications and are restricted under EU sanctions.
Potentially expand sanctions, restrict specific exports to Kyrgyzstan, and target additional banks or crypto firms implicated in facilitating Russia’s procurement networks.
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