Estonian-Russian citizen linked to sanctions-evasion network supplying Russia with European industrial equipment via Kazakhstan

RU

Russian-Estonian citizen Ivan Anchevsky, who was recently extradited to Estonia from Italy, has been linked to a network that supplies European industrial equipment to Russia via Kazakhstan in contravention of Western sanctions. The Insider analyzed trade flows showing that European machinery intended for Russian military-industrial enterprises was funneled through Kazakh firms.

Anchevsky’s company, Melytec (ООО «Мелитэк»), which has been placed under U.S. sanctions, was a supplier to Uralvagonzavod, Russia’s leading tank manufacturer. His other firm, Melytec Testing («Мелитэк Тестинг»), conducted business with Proton-Perm Motors, a company involved in the Russian aerospace and defense sectors.

A network of Kazakh companies was used to import goods for Melytec’s Russian clients — including military-industrial enterprises and research institutions. The key firms facilitating this trade included ProflabKZ, with an import volume of $5 million in 2023–2024, and Quantum KZ, which imported $8 million in the same period.

These Kazakh firms sourced equipment from major European manufacturers, including Fei Europe, Analytik Jena, EMCO Test Professional Machine, Struers ApS, and Bruker AXS. Additionally, the Kazakh company Melytek Kazakhstan LLP (ТОО «Мелитэк Казахстан») took deliveries of equipment from the obscure Hungarian firm MARK M.V.E. Kft.

Unlike sanctions-evasion schemes that rely on intermediary resellers, these firms dealt directly with the Western manufacturers. The main supplier to Quantum KZ was German-based Bruker AXS, while Melytec Kazakhstan's primary supplier was MARK M.V.E. Kft — a little-known Hungarian firm with no website that is affiliated with individuals bearing Eastern Slavic names, including Irina Mikhailovna Vasilieva and Vladimir Martynenko.

Kazakh firms such as Melytec Kazakhstan, ProflabKZ, Positron Lab, and Quantum KZ then re-exported sanctioned goods to Russia, supplying them to Melytec and Melytec Testing.

Between 2023 and 2024, these shipments totaled $17 million worth of goods sent to the Russian firm Melytec, and $6 million worth of goods sent to Melytec Testing. The companies’ direct imports from non-CIS countries were significantly smaller. Melytec imported $4 million worth of such goods in 2023 and $2 million in 2024, while Melytec Testing imported €9 million in 2023 and €6.5 million in 2024. Melytek and Melytek Testing reported a combined revenue of approximately $50 million in 2023.

The Insider contacted the European suppliers involved in exporting equipment to Kazakhstan. Austria’s EMCO-TEST said that it was “crucial” for the company “to fully comply with all legal requirements in [its] field of business, including sanctions.” The company added that it had received written assurances from ProflabKZ LLP that the equipment would remain in Kazakhstan and would not be used for military purposes. EMCO-TEST also claimed that it had signed an agreement with ProflabKZ explicitly prohibiting re-export to Russia and that it is now “following up with ProflabKZ to inquire about the current whereabouts of all products we have shipped to them.”

In a follow-up statement, EMCO-TEST clarified that its records listed only Kazakh companies as the end users, with neither the Russian nor the Kazakh Melytec appearing in its documentation.

Between 2023 and 2024, Melytec-affiliated firms imported approximately $35 million worth of goods from Western countries, both directly and through Kazakhstan. These shipments included scientific instruments and consumables for research in solid-state physics (metallurgy, mineralogy) and chemistry. Metalworking and materials analysis equipment were among the imported items, including cutting, grinding, and polishing tools, microstructure replication devices, sample mounting presses, and metallographic analysis instruments. Advanced laboratory equipment such as optical and electron microscopes, X-ray fluorescence spectrometers, X-ray diffractometers, hardness testers, chromatographs, mass spectrometers, and atomic emission spectrometers were also part of the shipments.

These tools are crucial for defense applications, as they enable weld quality inspections, detection of microcracks in metal, and detailed structural analysis of metal samples. Several of these methods allow for both destructive and non-destructive material testing.

Ivan Anchevsky, a dual citizen of Estonia and Russia, was extradited to Tallinn in January 2024 following his arrest in Italy at the request of the Estonian authorities. He is suspected of illegally transporting strategic goods and violating anti-Russian sanctions. Currently in custody, he faces criminal charges under Estonian law.

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