US court sends Estonian resident to jail for attempt to export dual-use gear to Russia

Stanislav Romanyuk attempted to contest his extradition to the United States with the help of top lawyers, but in January last year, he was nevertheless transferred to the United States. The picture shows Romanyuk in Harju County Court in 2022. Photo: Henri-Kristian Kirsip / Delfi Meedia

Stanislav Romanyuk, 39, a citizen of Ukraine last residing in Estonia, was sentenced on Wednesday by a court in New Haven to 33 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for his role in a scheme to violate United States export regulations by attempting to smuggle a dual-use export-controlled item to Russia.

According to court documents and statements made in court, beginning in 2018, Romanyuk, who operated Estonia-based BY Trade OÜ, conspired with Vadims Ananics and Eriks Mamonovs, both citizens of Latvia who operated CNC Weld, a Latvia-based company, and with individuals in Russia and a Russian company, to violate US export laws and regulations to smuggle a 500 Series CPWZ Precision Jig Grinder that was manufactured in Connecticut to Russia, the US Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut said in a press release

A jig grinder is a high-precision grinding machine system that does not require a license to export to European Union countries, but does require a license for export and reexport to Russia because of its potential application in nuclear proliferation and defense programs. Romanyuk and his co-conspirators knew that the jig grinder could not be exported from the US to Russia, and they did not apply for, receive, or possess a license of authorization from the US Department of Commerce to export or reexport the jig grinder to Russia, as required by the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 and the Export Administration Regulations, which restrict the export of items that could make a significant contribution to the military potential of other nations or that could be detrimental to US foreign policy and national security.

In April 2019, Romanyuk brokered the sale of the jig grinder from BY Trade OÜ to a Russian company using funds wired to it from the Russian company to purchase the jig grinder from Sapphire Universal, LLP, a company in Latvia. Sapphire Universal, which Romanyuk knew was in the business of obtaining dual use items from the US for sale in Russia, used CNC Weld as the claimed recipient and end-user of the jig grinder because no license was required to export the jig grinder to Latvia from the US.

In August 2019, to finalize the purchase of the jig grinder, Ananics and others traveled to Bridgeport, Connecticut, where Ananics informed the sellers that the jig grinder was being purchased for the benefit of CNC Weld. In September 2021, Romanyuk provided a false statement to Estonian authorities about the jig grinder transaction in order to cover up his involvement in this scheme.

US authorities, working with Latvian authorities, intercepted the jig grinder in Riga, Latvia, before it was to be shipped to Russia. Approximately 826,000 US dollars in funds involved in the purchase of the jig grinder were subsequently forfeited, and a substantial portion of the forfeited funds were transferred to Estonia to provide aid to Ukraine.

Romanyuk was arrested on June 13, 2022, in Latvia. On May 23, 2024, he pleaded guilty to international money laundering conspiracy. He has been detained since his arrest.

Ananics and Mamonovs pleaded guilty to related charges.

The investigation was coordinated through the US Justice Department's Task Force KleptoCapture, an interagency law enforcement task force dedicated to enforcing the sweeping sanctions, export controls, and economic countermeasures that the United States, along with its foreign allies and partners, has imposed in response to Russia's unprovoked military invasion of Ukraine. The task force will continue to leverage all of the department’s tools and authorities to combat efforts to evade or undermine the collective actions taken by the US government in response to Russian military aggression.