Two Finnish citizens supplied Russia, via an international network of companies, with military-grade electronic components worth more than €30 million in total. Some of the products were received by firms linked to Russia’s military industry.
This is according to an investigation by Finnish broadcaster Yle.
One of the main figures in the investigation is Denis Yemelyanov, who obtained Finnish citizenship in 2018. Officially, he is an entrepreneur and owns an online knife shop in Lappeenranta.
His company, registered in Hong Kong, exported electronic components to Russia for years. After the start of the full-scale invasion, shipment volumes rose sharply, and the goods began going to companies that service the military industry.
According to Yle, Yemelyanov’s company supplied Russia with more than €20 million worth of electronics. In autumn 2023, it was added to the US sanctions list. Direct exports from Finland to Russia were also impossible due to European Union sanctions.
The second figure in the investigation is Yemelyanov’s business partner and neighbour in Luumäki, an Estonian of Russian origin who also holds Finnish citizenship. He owns AK Technology, a company registered in Serbia, which supplied Russia with more than €8 million worth of military goods.
According to the journalists, the company was set up roughly six months after the start of the full-scale invasion.
As the outlet found, the Serbian company’s legal address turned out to be a virtual office providing foreigners with remote corporate services. Journalists also established that both businessmen worked with almost the same circle of Russian clients. Some of these companies are linked to one another through business ties and shared addresses, and many of them appear in a leaked list of contractors for the Russian army.
The largest Russian partner of the Finnish businessmen supplies parts to the Arzamas Instrument-Making Plant. Components are produced there that ensure missiles remain stable in flight and can hit targets accurately even when there is interference along the trajectory.
According to Yle, Russia cannot produce enough of this kind of electronics on its own, so it has created an international supplier network spanning dozens of countries. The Finnish businessmen were part of this network and traded with Russia both separately and jointly.
According to Hong Kong’s company register, Yemelyanov has already ceased his firm’s operations, and his partner has begun a similar process for the company in Serbia.
Investigators also found that before moving to Finland, Yemelyanov held a senior position at the St Petersburg company PetroInTrade, later renamed PT Electronic. It is currently under Western sanctions for aiding Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. According to Yle, Yemelyanov continued to cooperate with his former employer.
Yemelyanov himself denies violating sanctions and says he did not act in Russia’s interests. Through a Finnish lawyer, he also said the goods were intended exclusively for industrial use and that he did not deliberately breach EU sanctions.
The outlet notes that supplies of electronic components to Russia on this scale during the sanctions period have not previously been identified in Finland. In the journalists’ assessment, it is an exceptional case even by global standards.