A Swedish company helps the Russian elite bypass EU sanctions - to vacation in Europe

The Swedish TV channel SVT, with the participation of the Chronicle.Media publication, found out how the local technology company Avinode is used by the Russian elite to circumvent sanctions. The company recommended that Russian clients open branches in third countries. Avinode representatives declined to be interviewed, saying they had taken action.

Despite Russian business aviation being banned from the EU following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, SVT's investigation shows that Avinode continues to be used by Russian elites, including oligarchs and sanctioned individuals, for international flights.

Avinode connects private jet operators with aviation brokers who process the bookings. However, several independent sources reported that after the imposition of sanctions, Avinode employees recommended that Russian clients re-register companies in other countries.

SVT's investigation shows that Russian aviation brokers have opened offices in Turkey, Cyprus and the United Arab Emirates, among others. Thanks to this, they can hide Russian connections and maintain access to the European market, despite sanctions.

SVT journalists, posing as representatives of a Russian citizen under sanctions, received flight offers from Russian brokers. They confirmed that they use Avinode.

“The key question is to what extent the Swedish company Avinode was aware that it was providing services to Russian clients or clients acting in the interests of Russians. If the company knew about this, then, in my opinion, this could be considered a violation of EU sanctions,”

says sanctions lawyer Alex Prezanti.

SVT tried to contact Avinode CEO Oliver King and company founder Per Martinsson. The company declined an interview, but answered some questions by mail.

Avinode said that after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the company strengthened its customer verification procedures and stopped cooperating with some companies involved in the SVT investigation. They also acknowledged that there were shortcomings in their procedures, but said that these were the result of the actions of one employee.

Avinode representatives also claim that they have insufficient grounds to terminate cooperation with some of the re-registered companies identified by the SVT investigation:

“We remain unaware of any connection between these companies and sanctioned individuals or entities.”

In addition, the company states that it does not have the personal data of individual passengers and is not responsible for verifying them:

“The platform allows operators and brokers to find each other, but the final arrangement for any given flight is between the operator and the broker and does not happen on the Avinode platform.”

The material was published on the website of the SVT TV channel

Maria Georgieva, Dmitry Sukharev