Polish Gdynia Customs Begins Inspection of Consteel Following Publication of Trap Aggressor Investigation
A recent joint journalistic investigation by the Trap Aggressor media project of the StateWatch think tank and colleagues from the Polish publication FRONTSTORY.PL, which exposed the activities of Consteel companies linked to Russians, has attracted the attention of Polish law enforcement.
The Consteel network, which openly boasts of its ability to supply European goods to Russia despite sanctions, uses a scheme involving intermediaries in Turkey, Kazakhstan, and Poland. The key element that interested customs officers was the fact that Consteel has a warehouse in the city of Gdynia.
Consteel is a network of companies engaged in the supply of engineering equipment for process automation and the design of industrial networks. The Russian company LLC Consteel, registered in Kaliningrad, uses logistics channels through Poland and Turkey to supply sanctioned goods. The company’s founder is Anton Osipenko, a member of the United Russia party, who also actively supports the military-patriotic education of young people. He has business partners in Poland who run related companies. The supplies go to Russian client companies that have contracts with enterprises of the military-industrial complex. In particular, these goods could be used to develop parts for the Iskander-M and Kalibr missiles.
The editorial mailbox of the Polish media outlet FRONTSTORY.PL, in collaboration with which the investigation was created, received an official email from the Customs and Tax Service (Urząd Celno-Skarbowy), which monitors compliance with sanctions legislation. Representatives of the service asked for additional details, clarifying questions, and announced that they would launch an investigation into a possible violation of sanctions by Consteel.
During a journalistic investigation, the president of the Polish company Consteel, Bartosz Marciszewski, refused to provide journalists with any information about the goods stored in the company’s warehouses. However, now law enforcement agencies have joined the case, and the president will obviously not be able to refuse to provide information to them.