Authorities in Germany and Austria have carried out searches at the homes and offices of two entrepreneurs suspected of supplying cars to Russia in circumvention of EU sanctions. The information was announced by the Kaiserslautern prosecutor’s office.
The investigation is being conducted jointly by the authorities of Germany, Austria and Belgium. Investigators say that from autumn 2022 through the end of 2024, the two businessmen exported 53 passenger cars and 6 trucks to Russia while bypassing the restrictions.
According to the investigation, the vehicles were routed through neighboring countries to conceal the illegal exports, including via Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Georgia. The searches took place in Vienna and in the German city of Neustadt an der Weinstrasse.
At the request of prosecutors, the Kaiserslautern court seized assets worth about 7 million euros. In Neustadt, authorities confiscated two Porsche cars and one Mercedes-Benz, in Vienna they seized 85,000 euros in cash, and in Germany, Austria and Belgium they froze bank accounts totaling 278,000 euros. Investigators also found and seized three hunting rifles and ammunition from one businessman in Neustadt over a possible weapons-law violation.
In March 2022, the EU banned exports to Russia of cars worth more than 50,000 euros, and in June 2023 it also banned exports of electric and hybrid vehicles. Despite that, luxury cars have continued to enter Russia. At the beginning of 2026, TriTrace Investigations reported that since March 2022 at least 214 Bentley, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati and Rolls-Royce vehicles worth 5.9 billion rubles, or more than 75 million dollars, had been imported into Russia in circumvention of sanctions.
According to that report, the vehicles reached Russia mainly through Belarus, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Italy and Armenia. More than half of the shipments were routed through EAEU countries, specifically Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
