No evidence for Poland selling parts for Russia-bound Iranian drones, prosecutor’s office says

4 months ago 21

No evidence has been found that Poland sold Iran pumps to equip military drones, the Polish prosecutor’s office said, commenting on the ongoing investigation.

Private broadcaster Radio Zet reported, citing unnamed sources, that the company WSK Poznan had sold pumps to the Iranian engine manufacturer Motorsazan Company. They were originally intended for use in tractors, but the parts ended up in drones that Iran sent on to Russia.

The company, which is owned by the Polish state’s Industrial Development Agency (ARP SA), said the National Prosecutor’s Office and the Internal Security Agency (ABW) were “conducting an investigation into the export of parts manufactured by the company to Iran.”

The National Prosecutor’s Office immediately addressed the issue during a press briefing on Thursday, saying that it found no proof for the pumps being used in military drones sent to support Russia.

“Our findings do not indicate that (the pumps) were used in this way,” said a spokesperson for the National Prosecutor’s Office. He stressed that the investigation was into the sale of fuel pumps to Iran, not their use in drones.

“Of course, I am not saying that they were not used (in drones), but there is no evidence for this,” he added.

The investigation has been ongoing for two years, he said, adding that the company’s CEO had provided extensive explanations. As part of the ongoing investigation, the company has been charged with selling products of strategic importance without a licence and faces up to 10 years in prison.

The spokesman could not say whether the company violated EU sanctions against Russia by selling dual-use drones to Iran, which supports Russia with military equipment. He said only that the case was largely secret.

Iran supplied thousands of Shahed-136 ‘kamikaze’ drones to Russia during its invasion of Ukraine in February. The drones were used against Ukrainian air defences to hit infrastructure.

Meanwhile, Polish Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak told a press conference on Thursday that the country was making efforts to implement sanctions more consistently and prevent loopholes.

“The National Tax Administration, in cooperation with other services, has been carrying out intensive activities for several months to ensure that sanctions and embargoes are not circumvented,” he added.

Poland is NATO’s largest defence spender in terms of gross domestic product, with spending amounting to 4% of the country’s GDP. It has also been one of Ukraine’s biggest supporters, both under the previous conservative PiS (ECR) government and the current centre-liberal cabinet of Donald Tusk (EPP/S&D/Renew).

(Aleksandra Krzysztoszek | Euractiv.pl)