BMW finds irregularities in Russia car sales, despite sanctions

Upmarket carmaker BMW announced on Sunday that it had uncovered irregularities in exports to Russia from its branch in the German city of Hanover.

BMW had halted the exports and sacked those involved, it added in a statement.

The Munich-based company confirmed a report by the Business Insider news outlet, which said that more than 100 high-end cars had been provided to Russian buyers.

Russia is currently subject to a wide range of sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United States, among others, in response to its full-scale invasion of Ukraine launched in February 2022.

The supply of cars to Russian buyers is subject to a strict embargo. BMW said it was adhering to that embargo.

It noted that companies across different sectors had found their products on sale in Russia despite sticking to the sanctions. This tended to occur through so-called "grey imports."

The BMW Group was using a range of measures to halt all imports of this kind, it said.