China’s restrictions have led to disruptions in the supply of drones to the Russian Federation

Restrictions on the export of drones introduced by the Chinese authorities seriously complicated their delivery to Russia and led to a shortage of components, such as thermal imagers. Sellers of Chinese drones are trying to arrange parallel imports, but are facing opposition, including in Kazakhstan, where the import procedure has been tightened the other day. This is reported by Kommersant.

As told by the interlocutors of the publication, large Russian drone manufacturers managed to create stocks of spare parts and hope that their suppliers in China will be able to obtain licenses for export to Russia and permission from the customs service. However, their design can take up to a year. To do this, it is necessary to prove that the drone will not be used for military purposes and provide information about the final recipient.

If the Chinese exporter violates the requirements of the license, he faces administrative liability, and in case of intentional violation – criminal.

From September 1, 2023, China restricted the export of drones weighing more than four kilograms and a maximum take-off weight of seven kilograms with a flight duration of more than 30 minutes, capable of flying beyond the natural line of sight of operators, transporting objects and dropping them to the ground for two years.

After that, the supply of components and the devices themselves to Russia was suspended indefinitely.

The general director of the RuDrones company Dmitry Datsykov said that in August, drone manufacturers wholesaled everything they could: “Cameras, sensors, engine controllers, countermeasures against unmanned aerial vehicles.”

Eric Woods, a research fellow at Middlebury College (USA), export control specialist, told The Insider that Beijing wants to create the appearance of control in order to avoid Western sanctions, but in reality the measures taken are unlikely to prevent Russia and Ukraine from continuing to use Chinese drones.

In turn, the general director of “Avianovatsii” Sergey Tovkach noted in a conversation with The Insider that “Chinese business does not want to be related to the war, and the Russian and Ukrainian markets for the Chinese are insignificantly small.”

Earlier, China has repeatedly asserted that its country adheres to neutrality and does not sell weapons to conflict zones.

According to American intelligence, by the spring of 2023, China will supply Russia with drones and their components worth at least 12 million dollars.