Spain exported military material worth 209.7 million euros to Ukraine in the first half of 2022, according to the Interministerial Regulatory Board for Foreign Trade in Defense Material and Dual Use (JIMDDU) report, sent by the Secretary of State for Trade to the Congress of Deputies.
The data contrasts with those of last year, when Spain did not sell a single euro of weapons to kyiv, which has now become one of the main destinations for this Spanish industry after the start of the conflict with Russia in February of this year.
Of that amount, 118.3 million (56%) correspond to 155-millimeter artillery projectiles, while 7.2 million are bombs, 6.4 million are weapons of up to 20 millimeters and 3.7 are helmets and armor, according to the JIMDDU report to which the local media El País has had access.
Until July 1, only material worth 18.2 million euros had been exported, due to the procedures that this type of goods must go through. In addition, the report does not specify which figure corresponds to exports from Spanish companies and which to donations from the Armed Forces.
Saudi Arabia at the head of Spain’s arms customers
In total, between January and June of this 2022, Spanish arms exports amounted to 1,293.1 million euros, which represents a decrease of 20.1% compared to the same semester of the previous year. Meanwhile, what has actually been exported represents 30.8% of what is authorized by the Executive.
Although the bulk of sales corresponded to countries of the European Union and NATO, with 660.9 million euros (52%), Saudi Arabia was the first individual customer, with purchases for a value of 302.2 million euro.
Riyadh’s acquisitions are concentrated in boats. This year he received a corvette worth 261.5 million. This is the first of the five units that Spain ordered in 2018 for a total amount of 1,800 million. In addition, it acquired 33.8 million in ammunition and 3.8 in aeronautical material.
After Saudi Arabia, the main buyers are France, with 187.3 million euros; followed by the United Kingdom, which acquired material worth 167.5 million; and Türkiye, with 126.7 million.
Denied sales
The report also includes the export licenses denied by the JIMDDU: one to Pakistan for 670 sports pistols for 175.1 million euros; to Burkina Faso of 5.5 million hunting cartridges for 1.6 million; to Guinea Bissau of cartridges from home for 2.7 million; to the Central African Republic of tear cartridges for 2.1 million; to Cuba of 2,500 tear gas cartridges and 40 light, sound and tear gas devices for 350,000 euros.
Likewise, the export to China of eight infrared cameras and a power control system, for 60,000 euros; to Israel for drone systems, for 700,000 euros; and to the United Arab Emirates also for drone systems, for 125,000 euros.
However, the largest number of denials fell on Russia, a country that has not been authorized various operations, such as the purchase of spare parts for an icebreaker ship or equipment for re-export to a nuclear plant in India, for a total value of 2.3 million euros. In addition to the denial of new operations, licenses previously granted for the aerospace and industrial sector were also revoked, for an amount of 5.8 million euros, as a result of the sanctions imposed by the EU
