Russia using old ASML machines to make microchips for weapons: report

Russia is using old ASML machines to make microchips that are essential for the Russian war industry, Trouw reports based on its own research. Russian companies manage to import spare parts to keep these machines running via intermediaries, mainly in China, the newspaper wrote. The news comes at a difficult moment for ASML, as the United States is pushing hard on more limits to high-tech exports to China.

Nieuwsuur previously reported that Dutch microchips were showing up in Russian missiles, helicopters, and drones used to attack Ukraine. Trouw discovered one of the ways they got there.

It is unclear exactly how many ASML machines Russia has. The Veldhoven-based company stressed to Trouw that it complied with all applicable sanctions and has not shipped anything to Russia in years.

According to Trouw, customs data shows that at least 170 spare parts for ASML machines have entered Russia since the start of the war in Ukraine. The imports are possible because not all Russian companies are on the sanctions lists and can, therefore, obtain parts via foreign intermediaries. These are mainly companies in China, but the newspaper also found a Serbian company, MCI Trading, exporting to a Russian company, AK Mikrotech.

MCI Trading director Ivan Cvetic told Trouw that his company did nothing wrong. He denied exporting ASML equipment at all and denied doing business with AK Mikrotekh. He explains the customs data by speculating that unknown parties posed as his company.

According to the newspaper, the ASML equipment in Russian possession dates from the late 1990s and early 2000s. Many of the machines come from the second-hand market, as other companies sell their old ASML machines when they replace them with new ones.

These old machines can’t make advanced chips. But American expert Chris Miller is still concerned. Relatively simple chips are also important for the production of war material, Miller told the newspaper. He, therefore, advocates for stricter supervision of the second-hand markets.

Last week, the United States added many new Chinese parties to its sanctions list. According to Miller, the EU is less active in sanctioning suspicious parties from China.

Last week, Bloomberg reported that the Dutch government plans to further restrict ASML’s exports to China by not renewing certain ASML export permits when they expire at the end of this year. These involve permits for maintenance and the supply of spare parts for the second-most modern generation of chip machines in China.

ASML CEO Christophe Fouquet criticized the US-led campaign to restrict its exports to China, saying it has become “economically motivated” over time. Speaking at a Citi conference in New York, Fouquet said he expects resistance to US-pushed restrictions to increase. “I think it is becoming increasingly difficult to claim that this is about national security,” Fouquet said, ANP reported.