Russia, amid sanctions, sold to the United States a record volume of cartridges in 30 years – RBK
What is the reason for the record deliveries
In September of this year, Russian cartridge factories faced the risk of losing the American market for them. The reason was additional US sanctions, announced on August 20 due to accusations against Russia of involvement in the poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
These sanctions restrict the “permanent import” into the United States of small arms and ammunition by refusing to grant new import licenses to US importers; the sanctions took effect on 7 September. Officially, the United States refused to use chemical weapons and agrees to compensate Navalny.
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According to the UN, more than 94% of all Russian cartridges sent for export go to the United States and only a little to the European Union ($ 2.7 million in 2020), Canada ($ 1.5 million), Thailand (0, 6 million dollars). The Russian Federal Customs Service does not disclose the export volumes of cartridges.
Russia faces the risk of losing the largest market for ammunition
How American importers managed to temporarily bypass sanctions
The American theoretical opportunity to have time to formalize their fresh import in the interval between the announcement and implementation, introduced RBC. Licenses, administered by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) under the US Department of Justice, are legally two years old, and imports may continue under permits issued prior to the enactment of sanctions.
The partners of the American Tula Cartridge Plant (TPZ) – licensed by one of the Russian manufacturers of cartridges – have a valid license that will expire in the fall of 2023, according to a source close to TPZ. “We will be fine for another two years, and then problems will appear. Because this market cannot be replaced in any way, ”he said, noting that now the company employs about 2 thousand people. The press service of the Tula Cartridge Plant declined to comment.
Jurgen Brower, an economist at the Small Arms Analytics & Forecasting (SAAF) industry consulting company that tracks trends in the American firearms market, confirmed to RBC that American importers of Russian ammunition were able to obtain new two-year licenses between the announcement of sanctions and their entry into force, without specifying details. … He said that in this regard, he expects the continuation of the supply of Russian cartridges to the United States at least until the fall of 2023.
A representative of ATF told RBC that the translation bureau of American companies in Form-6 (Form 6 ATF) for permanent imports from Russia until September 7 is the date the sanctions come into force. “Permits for import in form-6 are valid for two years or until the moment when all the goods indicated in are introduced, whichever comes first,” the ATF said. As RBC previously wrote, the importer, in order to obtain ATF permission, fills out the so-called Form-6, in which, among other things, he declares the amount of goods that you import here (for example, 20 million cartridges from Russia of 7.62 mm caliber produced by a certain cartridge plant ).
How many cartridges Russia will supply to the USA
Since the early 1990s, Russia has shipped approximately $ 1.7 billion in firearms to the United States from open US customs data.
Russian cartridges own about 22% of the entire US market for firearms, including production, estimated at about 9.7 billion cartridges. According to SAAF, in 2020, US importers imported more than 765 million cartridges from Russia (total imports from all countries amounted to about 3.5 billion cartridges).
“Almost all Russian manufacturers of cartridges live by export. The USA has the largest cartridge market in the world. Individual possession of weapons is widespread there, there are many shooting clubs, and shooting culture is developed, ”noted Viktor Murakhovsky, editor-in-chief of the magazine“ Arsenal of the Fatherland ”.
Are the authorities going to support the cartridge factories
The Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation began to comment on RBC’s growth in the supply of cartridges to the United States, since “we are talking about cartridges for civilian weapons.” In the office of Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov, who oversees the military-industrial complex, RBC’s request was forwarded to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade told RBC that the growth in the volume of supplies to the United States is associated with a significant level of consumption for cartridges in this country in the past two to three years. Compared to 2018, the volume of supplies of American cartridges for civilian small arms has almost tripled, the ministry said. “This has nothing to do with the imposed sanctions,” the Ministry of Industry and Trade emphasized.
The work on the formation of measures aimed at supporting enterprises of the cartridge industry after the imposition of sanctions by the United States continues for the time being, the ministry said. “It is too early to talk about its results until the proposed measures are agreed on at all levels,” the Ministry of Industry and Trade concluded, refusing to specify what kind of support measures were in question.
Russian cartridges are in demand in the United States due to the fact that they are usually cheaper than their counterparts, notes American media Raw Story. In general, during the pandemic of the sale of weapons in a tripod, a shortage of cartridges arose. The US National Rifle Association (NRA) quotes a statement from NRA lobbyists.