Swedish company helps Russia’s elite circumvent EU sanctions — to vacation in Europe

With the participation of Chronicles.Media, Swedish broadcaster SVT has uncovered how the local tech company Avinode is being used by Russia’s elite to bypass sanctions. The company advised Russian clients to set up branches in third countries. Avinode representatives declined to give an interview, saying that measures had been taken.

Although Russian business aviation was banned in the EU after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, SVT’s investigation shows that Avinode continues to be used by members of the Russian elite, including oligarchs and sanctioned individuals, for international flights.

Avinode connects private jet operators with aviation brokers who arrange bookings. However, several independent sources said that after sanctions were introduced, Avinode employees recommended that Russian clients re-register their companies in other countries.

SVT’s investigation shows that Russian aviation brokers opened offices in, among other places, Turkey, Cyprus, and the United Arab Emirates. This allows them to conceal their Russian ties and maintain access to the European market despite the sanctions.

Posing as representatives of a sanctioned Russian citizen, SVT journalists received flight offers from Russian brokers. The brokers confirmed that they use Avinode.

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

— says sanctions lawyer Alex Prezanti.

SVT tried to contact Avinode CEO Oliver King and the company’s founder, Per Marthinsson. The company declined an interview but answered some questions by email.

Avinode said that after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it strengthened its customer due diligence procedures and ended cooperation with some of the companies featured in SVT’s investigation. The company also acknowledged shortcomings in its procedures, but said these were the result of the actions of a single employee.

Avinode representatives also claim that they do not have sufficient grounds to terminate cooperation with some of the re-registered companies identified by SVT’s investigation:

“We still have no knowledge of any connection between these companies and persons or organizations subject to sanctions.”

The company also states that it does not possess the personal data of individual passengers and is not responsible for verifying such information:

“The platform enables operators and brokers to find each other, but the final agreement for each individual flight is concluded between the operator and the broker and does not take place on Avinode’s platform.”

The report was published on SVT’s website.

Maria Georgieva, Dmitry Sukharev