A Netherlands court found a 43-year-old Russian guilty yesterday of breaching international sanctions by providing sensitive information from the Dutch semiconductor chip machine maker ASML and another tech company with an individual in Russia.
Sentenced in Rotterdam to a three-year jail term, the man’s identity could not be released given Dutch privacy provisions. However, he was acquitted of some charges, notably that of having been paid for the information he shared.
“Giving advice and sharing technology with Russia is extremely serious,” the court declared, noting that doing so could help strengthen Moscow’s “military and strategic capabilities”, with consequential implications “for Ukraine and indirectly for international security and stability.”
ASML is a world-leading maker of machines to manufacture processor chips. The company has an annual turnover of billions of euros thanks to its cutting-edge technology.
According to the Rotterdam District Court hearing, the suspect had shared information about setting up a microchip production line in Russia. Semiconductor chips are key when it comes to assembling military equipment like the drones Russia deploys in Ukraine.
“Yes, I gave advice”, the suspect said, admitting to having copied files last year and sending them to an individual in Russia via the Signal messaging app. He has two weeks to appeal the court verdict.
ASML has been subject to export restrictions in recent years stemming from Washington’s drive to curtail China’s access to materials used to make such chips.
Nor is it the first time Holland’s high-tech sector has been a target for industrial espionage. In 2020, the country’s domestic intelligence agency unmasked attempts by two Russian spies to acquire security-sensitive information about artificial intelligence, semiconductors and nanotechnology, all of which, it pointed out, are relevant to civil and military applications, “including in weapons “.
