SENSITIVE EXPORTS & EXPORT CONTROL IN RUSSIA
“Sensitive Exports and Export Control in Russia” is one of the research projects implemented within the “Nonproliferation and Russia” program since 1997.
Over the last five years, the PIR Center has revealed numerous cases of illicit sensitive exports or attempts to export such material from Russia to states such as Iraq, Iran, and China. Additionally, the PIR Center has made significant educational efforts to train and to instill values of nonproliferation and export controls in Russian decision makers and lawmakers. With that in mind, the PIR Center project, “Sensitive Exports and Export Control in Russia,” draws the attention of the decision-making community, experts, the media, and the public to new proliferation threats resulting from the inadequate implementation of export control policy. The project identifies the main problems – i.e. gaps in the implementation process - and identifies possible solutions. It strives to reveal more cases of illicit export, analyze why preventative measures failed, and formulate and make policy recommendations.
Among other activities, the project has undertaken the following:
- Analysis of the efficiency of Russian legislation and governmental regulations on export controls in Russia. The emphasis falls on dual-use materials and technology and on missiles and their components;
- Identification of the Russian lobbyists who influence state policy (ministries, state-owned enterprises, private companies, or political groups);
- Suggestion for how divergence between governmental regulations and export control practices can be avoided; and
- Case studies of “gray exports.”
In 2000 the PIR Center published a number of books on the topic:
- A detailed report (brochure) on sensitive export controls in Russia and efforts to prevent the leakage of sensitive materials and technology, edited by Dr. Vladimir Orlov and Dr. Dmitry Evstafiev. The book – “Export Controls in Russia: Policy and Practice” - was published in the PIR Library Series in mid 2000 (in Russian) and presented at the press conference in the National Press Institute on July 6, 2000.
- A monograph, “The Nuclear Supplies Group: Why and How It Was Created (1974-1978)” by Amb. Roland Timerbaev published in September 2000 and containing many unique facts and reminiscences of the author (in Russian and in English).
The most recent example of the PIR seminars on this topic is the Research Council meeting of July 5, 2000, "Export Controls in the Transforming World System: Economic Aspects". Key-note speakers were:
- Dmitry Evstafiev, PIR Senior Research Associate
- Elina Kirichenko, Head of the Center for North American Studies at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations
- Anatoly Bulochnikov, Director of the Center for Export Controls
- Pavel Bykov, Correspondent of the Expert magazine
To obtain more information about the project, contact Director of the PIR Center Vladimir Orlov. Tel.: (095) 234-0525; Fax: (095) 234-9558; E-mail: orlov@pircenter.org
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