According to data from open sources, Western countries attempted to restrict the supply of particular electronic components to Russia about a year ago. Although these sanctions may have initially affected the Russian industry, it appears that by the end of 2022, the negative impact of the restrictions had been mitigated through the reorganization of supply chains.
The United Nations and China's state statistics authorities have provided data to The Wall Street Journal, which summarizes the flow of semiconductor component supplies following Western countries' attempts to restrict their sale to Russia. The available data suggests that Russia managed to restore its average monthly import volume of chips and electronic components to the 2021 level by the end of last year, with over half of the supplies now coming from China. Chinese customs data shows that shipments of integrated circuits to Russia from China rose consistently to $179 million last year from $74 million in 2021.
Moreover, Turkey has also dramatically increased the supply of electronic components to Russia, with deliveries of similar products increasing in value from $79,000 to $3.2 million, and the total volume of supplies of electronics and equipment to Russia more than doubling to $559 million last year. Although Chinese chip exports increased by only 36%, supplies of semiconductors from China to Turkey increased by more than two times. This suggests that some Chinese products are reaching Russia through roundabout routes.
Turkish officials have denied supplying dual-use electronic components to Russia, while US officials visited Turkey, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates in early January to curb the supply of unwanted products to Russia. China has experience in restructuring supply chains in the face of US sanctions, as President Trump's increased customs duties on Chinese goods in 2018-2019 had almost no effect on exports from China. Goods with prohibitively high duties entered the United States through third countries on favorable terms.
