Germany’s Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) is reviewing the activities of a German logistics company that, according to a Bild investigation, has been sending sanctioned goods to Russia in parcels via Uzbekistan’s state postal service. “The agency is currently conducting a review,” BNetzA said in comments cited by the newspaper article published Sunday, January 25. The agency warned the firm could face consequences for improper cooperation with UzPost.
The report says Bild journalists, using a Berlin shop that sells Russian goods, sent five parcels to Russia containing sanctioned but non-working electronic components. The shipping manifest described the contents as “books, scarves and hats.” Each package contained a GPS tracker that showed the parcels ultimately arrived in Moscow.
Bild reports that when preparing the shipments, a store employee affixed labels from UzPost, Uzbekistan’s state postal service, even though it is not authorized to operate in Germany. The German company organizing the deliveries confirmed it works with UzPost, saying the cooperation is legal. UzPost also confirmed it collaborates with private logistics firms. The company denies any sanctions evasion.
Reporters traced the route: 40-ton trucks carrying parcels leave Berlin for Poland, then go to Belarus and on to Moscow. The story says the packages crossed the Belarusian border - Belarus is also under sanctions - “almost without hindrance.”
Bild says the possible sanctions violations by this company came to light during a Berlin prosecutor’s investigation, ongoing since 2022, into the leadership of RusPost GmbH, the German subsidiary of Russian Post. According to the tabloid, German customs officers found prohibited electronic devices, cash and jewelry in parcels the firm was sending to Moscow. Bild writes that Berlin prosecutors intend to charge one top manager in connection with the case.
In addition, Bild reports the unnamed company that shipped sanctioned goods from Germany to Russia is currently led by Dmitry F., a former RusPost executive. Berlin prosecutors also investigated him, the report says but dropped the case in 2024 for lack of evidence.
DW has requested comment from the Berlin prosecutor’s office.
