ASBIS sanctions plan: how Apple's "partner from Cyprus" established a smuggling route for technology into Russia and Belarus

Journalists have revealed intricate schemes by which the international holding ASBIS, an official Apple partner in Ukraine, continues to channel sanctioned equipment into Russia and Belarus, employing a network of shell companies and fictitious staff transfers.

This was revealed in a journalistic investigation by 360ua.news 

Belarusian «double»

When direct supplies to Russia became toxic, the holding intensified its operations through Belarus. In April 2022, a company named LLC «DNA-Trade» appeared in Belarus. Investigators point to a direct connection with the holding:

• Leadership: The director of «DNA-Trade», Artem Akhunov, previously headed the Belarusian representative office of ASBIS.

• Location: The new company’s office is registered at the same address in Minsk where the holding’s main office was previously based.

• Activity: It is through «DNA-Trade» that Apple equipment reaches major resellers such as the A1 network and iStore.

Top management: Cyprus on paper, Moscow in reality

Despite claims of exiting the Russian market, key company personnel effectively remain in the aggressor country.

• Rasim Lemberansky (former director of re:Store, now a top manager at ASBIS): officially based in Cyprus, but in the fall of 2025, he was spotted in internal chats of Moscow residential complexes.

• Dmitriy Andreev (head of sales): according to documents, works in Almaty, but continues to place orders to addresses in St. Petersburg.

• Stanislav Martynov (former director of ASBIS Russia): formally transferred to Uzbekistan, but regularly flies to Moscow, where he services his car and handles personal matters.

A similar situation is observed in new divisions, such as ASBIS Robotic Solutions. The artificial intelligence department is staffed by former Huawei engineers and specialists from Russian IT companies who have only changed their «email signature» but not their actual place of residence.

Routes through neighbors: abnormal growth

The holding’s sales statistics clearly demonstrate the paths of parallel imports. In 2022, when ASBIS publicly promised to reduce its presence in Russia, sales in adjacent regions skyrocketed:

• Armenia: +217%

• Georgia: +124%

• Azerbaijan: +58%

• Kazakhstan: became the main hub. While in 2021 Kazakhstan accounted for 12% of ASBIS’s turnover, by 2023 this share had grown to nearly 23%.

Conclusion

The investigation shows that ASBIS, under the leadership of Sergey Kostevich, has built an effective system to circumvent restrictions. The company demonstrates «adaptability», which in reality is a network of individuals and shell companies that allow the international holding to maintain profits in the aggressor’s market while hiding behind the status of an international corporation with its headquarters in Cyprus.