[Translation prepared by Business & Human Rights Resource Centre]

Figures show: Swedish products in the Russian war industry – worth hundreds of millions, 29 September 2025

...Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, tough sanctions have been imposed on the country. Among the sanctioned goods are a number of different ball bearings and other products from SKF that are included in what are known as dual-use products (DUPs), i.e. products with a civilian use, but which can also be used for military purposes or for the production of weapons of mass destruction.

Despite the sanctions, SKF products worth hundreds of millions are imported into Russia annually, usually via third-party countries, according to Russian customs data reviewed by Aftonbladet.

In addition to ball bearings, parts and accessories for motor vehicles and transmission shafts are also imported from SKF in large amounts...

– Since the start of the war, we have seen that goods produced by SKF worth approximately SEK 600 million have ended up in Russia. Of this, we estimate that 80–90 percent are sanctioned goods, and that would result in sanctioned shadow trade of up to half a billion SEK, says Erlend Bjørtvedt, CEO of Corisk.

If you break it down year by year, you see that imports to Russia have indeed decreased from almost 900 million kronor annually in 2020 and 2021, but in 2022 it still amounted to 51 million dollars, just over 470 million kronor.

During the year 2023, when the full-scale Russian offensive war had been going on for a year, Russia was able to import SKF products worth just over SEK 333 million.

In 2024, a further decrease was seen to almost SEK 160 million, according to Russian customs data.

And the trade is still continuing in 2025...

SKF has not agreed to an interview about Aftonbladet's review, but has provided a written comment and stated that it "takes the issue very seriously."

“We have a strict ban on direct and indirect sales to Russia, including through distributors. If we nevertheless identify that our products have reached Russia, we will take immediate action in accordance with contracts and applicable legislation.

"We are conducting extensive work where we take full responsibility. Unfortunately, we cannot fully control sales in the next stage," SKF writes in the comment.

SKF states that Russian customs data "must be handled with great caution", and that some of the trade may involve pirated goods.

"As a company, we still welcome this information if it can help us identify improper re-exports. We will continue to work intensively to review all information."

Read SKF's full response here .