Submachine guns for Putin’s security apparatus

Goods category: War materiel

A B&T export application for sniper rifles, submachine guns and accessories for the Russian security service, initially rejected in 2008, was reconsidered in 2009 and approved in October. The FDFA had concerns about possible use in the North Caucasus. Approval required an explicit restriction to VIP protection. In 2022, B&T confirmed that it had supplied a low double-digit number of MP9s to Russia’s state personal-protection service in each of 2013 and 2014. According to the company, no further deliveries to Russia took place after March 2014. In its response to interpellation 25.3215, the Federal Council confirmed that 20 submachine guns and three repeating rifles for personal protection had been approved for Russia’s Federal Security Service in 2009. It rejected the allegation of mere relabelling. In its view, the images mentioned in the question did not allow sufficient conclusions about actual use.

Effect of the proposed War Materiel Act revision

Under the new Article 22b, the Federal Council could depart from all the licensing criteria in Article 22a under vaguely defined ‘exceptional circumstances’. The public would not have to be informed. The Federal Council could add Russia to Annex 2 by amending the War Materiel Ordinance. This would remove the exclusion criterion based on participation in an armed conflict and make approval the rule. The Federal Council could refuse a licence only in exceptional cases. Article 18 paragraph 1 would abolish non-re-export declarations in the vast majority of cases. Weapons for Russia could thus easily be supplied through a subsidiary or intermediary in a third country. Italy could serve as a third country, having, according to SIPRI, supplied substantial quantities of war materiel to Russia in recent years (54 million TIV).