AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Russian companies had been ready to fabricate spare method for 25-year-old ASML chipmaking machines in 2022 to 2023 on secondary markets irrespective of European Union sanctions, Dutch newspaper Trouw reported on Thursday, citing Russian customs paperwork.
ASML, Europe’s greatest technology firm, dominates the market for superior lithography systems, which use gentle beams to aid make the circuitry of chips.
Although its 1990s-technology tools are no longer regarded as “twin use” tools with doable protection power applications, they would composed be necessary for Russian companies making analogue chips for the nation’s battle in Ukraine, including for drones.
On the different hand, following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, European sanctions dangle blocked gross sales of electronics tools to Russia.
ASML told Reuters that it abides by the sanctions, and that even earlier than they had been imposed, it had bought few tools in Russia.
“ASML doesn’t promote products or companies to Russia and would no longer dangle interplay with Russian distributors. Nothing has been despatched by ASML to Russia in most modern years and sanctions restrict the sale of PAS and Twinscan systems, apart from spare method, to Russia” it acknowledged in an emailed response to queries.
The Trouw yarn serious about ASML’s PAS-5500 tools, which date from the 1990s and 2000s, when ASML develop into an up-and-coming challenger to the stay companies of the day, Japan’s Nikon and Canon. It acknowledged Russian shopping and selling companies bought the spare method by Chinese middlemen.
Reuters develop into no longer ready to independently verify the document.
The PAS-5500 is now no longer being constructed, however most of these made previously are composed in operation. Frail machines are steadily bought or refurbished and ASML makes and sells spare method to permitted homeowners.
The Trouw yarn acknowledged it had considered paperwork displaying 170 cases of relevant spare method being imported by Russian companies. It acknowledged the companies engaging declined comment while the Chinese vendors had been untraceable.
(Reporting by Toby Sterling; Enhancing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
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