The sanctions loophole: Kyrgyzstan’s role in Russia’s machinery supply chain

Chris Rowland • July 22, 2025

Following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine and subsequent Western sanctions, Kyrgyzstan appears to have emerged as a key intermediary in the potential evasion of sanctions on Russia.  Analysis of international trade data from the MDS Transmodal World Cargo Database reveals Kyrgyzstan had the fastest growth in imports of three key types of machinery of any country in the world between 2019–2024.

Since the onset of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Western nations have imposed sweeping sanctions targeting Moscow’s access to military and industrial goods. Yet, despite these restrictions, Russia’s war machine continues to receive critical equipment—often through indirect routes. One such route appears to run through Kyrgyzstan, a small Central Asian nation whose trade statistics have raised eyebrows across the global sanctions enforcement community.

Kyrgyzstan’s imports of machinery and equipment skyrocketed after 2022 and MDST’s analysis of global trade in such commodity groups based on data from its World Cargo Database (WCD) suggests that the country’s imports of specialised machinery, metal working machinery and general industrial machinery have grown faster than any other country’s over the period 2019-24.  

Top 5 fastest growing global import markets by value, 2019-24

Specialised machinery Metalworking machinery General industrial machinery
Global ranking Importer % change 2019-24 Importer % change 2019-24 Importer % change 2019-24
1 Kyrgyzstan 382% Kyrgyzstan 662% Kyrgyzstan 580%
2 Mozambique 287% Kazakhstan 312% Guyana 179%
3 Iran 244% Tanzania 137% El Salvador 159%
4 Libya 185% UAE 136% Uganda 157%

 Source: MDS Transmodal World Cargo Database

The rate of growth of imports over the period 2019-24 suggests this is a classic case of re-exporting: goods are imported into Kyrgyzstan, cleared through customs, and then swiftly shipped to Russia.  This is facilitated by Kyrgyzstan’s membership of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), a regional trading bloc that also includes Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Armenia and which provides tariff-free access to members’ markets.