Shocking revelations said to show that despite sanctions on the Kremlin, Kazakh company ARC Group is maintaining Russian fighter jets reliant on French aviation technology have been presented by an investigations NGO.

Based on collected documents and testimonies, specialists in Kazakhstan are accused of collaborating with the Russian military to service Russian Su-30SM warplanes using equipment from France’s Thales and Safran Electronics & Defense.

The probe was conducted by Inform Napalm, a “volunteer intelligence community” set up by Ukrainian journalist Roman Burko and Georgian military expert Irakli Komaxidze in response to the 2014 Russian aggression against Ukraine, including the seizing of Crimea.

“This example of a Russo-Kazakhstani cooperation shows an intricate arrangement making it possible for the Russians to get access to advanced military technology despite relevant Western sanctions under cover of a Kazakhstani military contractor,” said Inform Napalm.

It described how without certain Thales and Safran high-tech equipment, the SU-30SM “pilot is effectively blind and the plane turns into a pile of flying metal. In order to continue operating the aircraft and bombing Ukrainian cities, the Russians need to constantly maintain the French equipment”.

According to the group, long before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Russians had ambitious “import substitution” plans for the French equipment.

Added Inform Napalm: “It looks like this process is slowly moving… However, there are many airplanes in operation, and French equipment needs to be serviced. Whereas, sanctions, albeit slowly, are working against Russia. Only specialists certified by the manufacturer may service the components using certified equipment. After the full-scale invasion, Russia allegedly lost access to such capabilities. However, the documents in our possession clearly show that the Russian side found an excellent channel for bypassing sanctions through a contractor in Kazakhstan.”

It also observed: “At the same time, the documents and data we received strongly suggest that the ARC Group is actually a front company for the Russians to bypass sanctions.”

Credit: Inform Napalm.

ARC, or Analyst Research Consulting Group (ARC Group), is a “fishy” company that was established in Kazakhstan in 2014 by sole founder Aldanazar Sagynbek “at the tender age of 16”, according to the group’s investigations team.

A licensee of the Committee for Industrial Development and Industrial Safety of the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan, ARC has a state licence for the export, import, installation, adjustment, modernisation, operation, storage, repair and maintenance of aviation equipment and spare parts.

Inform Napalm’s inquiries showed that ARC in October 2021, signed its first contract with specialised Russian company Rosaviaspetskomplekt (its name stands for “repair, maintenance, supply of special components for aviation”).

The contract states: “The CONTRACTOR shall provide services for the maintenance/supply of aviation radio-electronic equipment (avionics) components manufactured by THALES and Safran for Su-30 aircraft.”

The annex to the contract contains a list of military products for import to Kazakhstan in 2021 and indicates the purpose of such import, namely the “temporary import for overhaul with subsequent re-export in the interests of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.”

“However,” pointed out the investigators, “this contract was never signed by the Russian side. Instead, the parties entered into Contract No. 05.11.2021-1 dated November 5, 2021. It is the same in essence; however, it is more ‘secretive’ in terms of wordings. There are no longer any direct references to French companies in the subject; it generically says ‘maintenance of aviation equipment’ instead.

“At the same time, the annex to the agreement did not undergo any significant changes – the equipment specification, and the mention of the Russian Armed Forces stayed intact. However, whereas the October contract contained a list of equipment for import to Kazakhstan in 2021, the final contract of November 05, 2021 indicated the planned import period as 2022.”

Inform Napalm also highlighted a letter in which “the Russian side directly expressed its willingness to finance the purchase of a set of automated test equipment from the manufacturer. In other words, the Russians are ready to advance money to the Kazakhs so that they could buy equipment from the French to perform fault diagnostics of the French products installed on Russian aircraft”.

Pieced together, the assembled evidence indicates the Russians paying for “the provision of a full cycle of services – from training and certification of Kazakhstani specialists in France to purchasing the necessary equipment from the French”, it added.

Once trained, it appeared the next stop of the specialists was a Russian aircraft repair plant in the Siberian city of Irkutsk, north of Russia’s border with Kazakhstan.

“Who flew in to service the Russians’ equipment? Through access to the archives of Russian databases, Inform Napalm and its partners could establish not only the identities and positions of the specialists, but also obtain copies of their documents,” Inform Napalm said. The individuals included company director Sagynbek, it added, noting: “Given the scope of equipment maintenance and repairs planned by the Russians, this was clearly not a one-time visit. Basically the same group of specialists began to travel to Russia to perform maintenance.”

It concluded: “As we have established, the cooperation between the Kazakhstani ARC Group and Rosaviaspetskomplekt has been going on for at least two years. All this time, the Kazakhstani company cynically misled the French side.”

Efforts by bne IntelliNews to contact ARC Group for comment proved unsuccessful.