The Taiwan-based company sanctioned by the United States for its alleged military tech sales to Russia is a one-man company operated by a Russian national, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said Tuesday.
The ministry said it has been aware of Sharp Edge Engineering Inc. since mid-2022, after the U.S. Department of Treasury on Monday expanded its list of companies — including the Taiwanese enterprise — and individuals facing possible sanctions for supplying or helping finance the sale of military technology to Russia in its war against Ukraine.
According to a MOEA press release, it has worked with the Ministry of Finance “to tighten related controls” on the company, located in Taipei’s Neihu District, which the U.S. said was set up on Dec. 13, 2016 and is an electronics component wholesaler.
However, the Taiwanese authorities did not detail the actions they have taken or could take in response to the Taiwan-based company being placed on the U.S. sanctioned entities list.
Both ministries are also closely observing another company run by the same Russian national to prevent similar exports, the MOEA added.
The MOEA emphasized that Taiwan has joined the U.S. and other countries in imposing sanctions against Russia since its invasion of Ukraine. It also banned 57 strategic high-tech goods which can be used for both civilian and military purposes from being exported to Russia starting April 6.
Those measures have worked, the MOEA said.
Meanwhile, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Joanne Ou (歐江安) said at a regular press briefing Tuesday that the ministry is happy to work with the MOEA to curb such exports, as the latter is responsible for related investigations.
In a statement released by the U.S. Treasury on Monday, the agency’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said the latest additions to the list targeted a transnational network procuring technology for Russia’s military-industrial complex.
The new sanctions designated 14 individuals and 28 entities, including Sharp Edge Engineering, and identified eight aircraft as blocked property, the U.S. Treasury said.
The U.S. agency has accused the Taiwan-based company of serving as a front used to purchase microelectronic components from Asian companies, saying that employees of PKK Milandr (Milandr), a Russian microelectronics company, have used a Sharp Edge account to procure equipment.
Sharp Edge Engineering was “designated for being owned or controlled by, or for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Milandr,” the statement said.
“The United States will continue to expose and disrupt the Kremlin’s military supply chains and deny Russia the equipment and technology it needs to wage its illegal war against Ukraine,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in the statement.
How much the new designation affects the operation of the Taiwan company remains to be seen because the sanctions only freeze the assets of those on the list held under U.S. jurisdiction and prohibit U.S. individuals and entities from doing business with them.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel