Companies supplying parts to Russian military face prosecution, Coveney warns

Irish manufacturers found supplying parts to Russia’s military face criminal prosecution, Minister for Trade Simon Coveney has warned following the discovery of alleged Irish-made parts on Ukrainian battlefields.

Last week, Ukrainian president Andriy Yermak shared a photo of an Iranian-made drone found in wreckage in the city of Mykolaiv, which featured a carburettor labelled as being made by Tillotson and stamped “Made in Ireland”.

Tillotson is an American company with a factory in Co Kerry.

Also this month, photos appeared online allegedly showing the use of Irish made antennas in a Russian guided bomb.

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Irish companies have an obligation to ensure that they are “in full compliance” with EU sanctions, Mr Coveney said.

“A natural or legal person who contravenes a provision of an EU sanctions regulation shall be guilty of an offence and liable to prosecution.”

He said he is “concerned” about the recent reports, adding that Department of Trade officials are working with Ukrainian authorities to establish “whether any breach of sanctions has occurred.”

“We are working closely with the Ukrainian authorities to establish the origin of the components and the distribution channels from which they were acquired by the producer of the armaments.”

The Minister’s statement was made in response to a parliamentary question on the matter from Labour TD Ged Nash.

Mr Coveney said the Irish-made components are available in many countries and they may have been re-sold several times before being acquired by “bad actors.”

The Minister said the Department of Trade is also working with the EU-funded Conflict Armament Research organisation which, according to its website, “identifies and tracks conventional weapons and ammunition in contemporary armed conflicts.”

Under EU sanctions, the sale or supply of drone engines and electronic components, as well as other items which may help Moscow’s military, are banned.

Mr Coveney said such restricted items also includes toy drones.

There have been 11 packages of EU sanctions to date which the Minister described as “broad-ranging” and “designed to degrade Russia’s ability to continue its military aggression against Ukraine.

Ukrainian leaders have called for even stricter sanctions to prevent EU-made components ending up in Russian military equipment.

“The Russian Federation has been buying foreign technological products for many years, but now, when they are becoming instruments of killing people, terrorism and genocide, this must be stopped,” Mr Yermak said last week. “New sanctions are needed.”

Tillotson, which makes small engines for chainsaws, lawnmowers, brush cutters and leaf blowers at its plant in Tralee, said it takes the use of its products very seriously and that it is working closely with the Government “to monitor and track the sale and distribution of our products.”

It added that fake Tillotson products are commonly available overseas.

“We don’t believe any Irish companies have evaded sanctions, but there are third parties that find ways around the sanctions, and it’s really important that we crack down on that and we do take it very seriously,” Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said during a visit to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv last week.