The telecommunications company Ericsson has stated on repeated occasions – including in two interim reports – that the company has suspended all deliveries to customers in Russia.
At Ericsson’s general meeting at the end of March, CEO Börje Ekholm said that they are reviewing how the company’s operations in Russia are affected by the war.
– While we do this analysis, which of course includes understanding the sanctions systems, we have decided to suspend all deliveries to customers in Russia and Belarus and postpone new customer projects there, said Börje Ekholm.
Ekot can now reveal that Ericsson has continued with export operations.
Just days after Ekholm’s statement at the meeting, the company applied to be allowed to deliver dual-use products to Russia, i.e. products that can be used civilly, but also militarily.
After the invasion of Ukraine it is forbidden to export such products to Russia.
However, several Swedish companies have applied for exemptions from the sanctions rules – and some of them have received permission.
During the period investigated by Ekot, from the beginning of the war until mid-August, a total of 33 applications for exemptions were submitted to the responsible authority, the Inspectorate for Strategic Products.
According to Ekot’s data Ericsson is the company that submitted the most applications – twelve.
Ericsson is also the company that has been approved the most times, according to Ekot’s data – with seven granted export permits.
Ericsson’s customers in Russia are mobile operators.
The permits concern infrastructure for civilian mobile communications, products that fall under the sanctions rules because they can also be used militarily.
In another email Ekot writes the company’s press manager Kristoffer Edshage:
“These permits mean that Ericsson can deliver software and technical support until 31 December 2022”.
The company does not want to provide further details and refers to confidentiality for competitive reasons.
“What we can say is that Ericsson’s deliveries to customers in Russia do not include hardware since the sanctions were introduced.”
Ericsson has not wanted to comment on how the data fits together with what the company has stated, that all deliveries to customers in Russia have been suspended.
Carl V Andersson
[email protected]
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