Report: Huawei faces dilemma over Russia risking US sanctions

MOSCOW, Apr 1 (PRIME) -- Chinese tech giant Huawei can face new sanctions from the U.S. if it continues to support Russia in the telecom industry, The Financial Times reported late on Thursday.

The last time Western sanctions hit Russia after it was joined by Crimea, President Vladimir Putin turned to Huawei to rebuild and upgrade the territory’s communication infrastructure. Now the controversial Chinese technology company is positioned to aid Russia on a much larger scale, despite the threat of Washington hitting it with more sanctions, the daily said.

Huawei phone sales in Russia rose 300% in the first two weeks of March, while other Chinese brands Oppo and Vivo also recorded triple-digit sales increases, according to analysts at mobile operator MTS.

Its four Russian research centers are recruiting dozens of engineers, including machine learning scientists in the city of Novosibirsk, speech recognition researchers in the city of St. Petersburg and big data analysts in the city of Nizhny Novgorod. Huawei has also added new sales and business development openings in Moscow since the start of the operation in Ukraine.

But experts say Chinese tech companies such as Huawei and rival Xiaomi risk violating sanctions if they keep shipping phones and telecoms gear to Russia. They need sign-off from Washington because the electronics often contain high-end semiconductors or are made with U.S. tools, making them subject to new sanctions on Moscow, the daily said.

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