Russian companies still active in NL, EU funding mercenaries for the front

Russian multinationals that are still not subject to European sanctions and still have active subsidiaries in the Netherlands are recruiting and paying mercenaries to fight for the Russian army in Ukraine. Trouw and Investico report this based on research by IStories, an independent Russian journalist collective.

Novatek, Russia’s second-largest gas producer after state-owned Gazprom, recruits soldiers through a private security company. Enlisted mercenaries are paid from a “charity fund” established in September 2022 and consisting almost entirely of donations from Novatek, according to the fund’s bank stories in IStories’ possession.

Novatek is majority owned by oligarchs Leonid Mikhelson and Gennady Timchenko. Timchenko is on the European sanctions list, but the gas company itself is not. The European Union exempts the gas sector due to long-term contracts and member states’ dependence on Russian gas.

Aluminum company Rusal recruits military personnel for the war through a subsidiary, according to IStories. In July 2023, the European aluminum sector asked the EU not to sanction Rusal. Sanctions would be “problematic” for Europe due to Rusal’s close economic ties with European companies.

PIK Group, a prominent Russian project developer, is also not on the EU sanctions list and actively recruiting mercenaries through an advertising site.

According to Trouw, all three of these multinationals have subsidiaries based in the Netherlands. Rusal International B.V. and RUSAL Global Management B.V. are registered in Amsterdam. PIK International B.V. has a Dutch director and works from Rotterdam on project development of real estate in “particularly the Philippines.” The Dutch branch of Novatek, Novatek Montenegro B.V., is bankrupt.

“It sounds harsh, but there is not necessarily a ban on financing private armies,” sanctions lawyer Yvo Amar told Trouw. “However, I can imagine that based on this news, the Dutch branch of the companies will end up on the sanctions list or terrorism list.”

The Dutch branches of Rusal, Novatek, and PIK did not respond to questions from Investico. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Trouw that it could not comment on individual cases. “The Cabinet will continue to look for ways to increase pressure on Russia within the EU and beyond.”