Products from three Dutch companies are used in a weapon at sea that Russia is secretly building to protect its nuclear submarines. Maritime
Products from three Dutch companies are used in a weapon at sea that Russia is secretly building to protect its nuclear submarines. Maritime technology company Royal IHC, Rederij Groen, and Smit Terminals (now Boskalis) together supplied over $8 million in products to a company in Cyprus that is a Russian front, Pointer discovered “Russian Secrets,” an international investigative project by journalists from the Dutch program, NDR, Le Monde, and The Washington Post, among others. For over a decade, the Russian Ministry of Defense has used a network of shell companies to acquire technology from the West, purchasing goods from nine European countries, the United States, Canada, and Japan, the journalists discovered. Central to this Russian procurement network is the Cyprus-based Mostrello Commercial Limited. The company is owned by a Moscow businessman who has worked for the Russian military and intelligence services on several occasions. Pointer’s investigation showed that Mostrello and sister companies purchased over $56 million worth of sensitive underwater technology and research vessels over the past 12 years.
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