Haas issues statement dismissing claims of allegedly violating Russian sanctions
After PBS made allegations of Haas violating US export regulations and supplying machinery and parts to Russia, the team issued a statement denying the claims.
A story on PBS, an American broadcaster, highlighted the issue that Haas Automation Inc. has exported around 18 machines to Russia, despite the regulations of the US export making it illegal to do so. Though the team had a lot of involvement from the country until last season, their released statement declared these allegations as falsified.
The F1 team was sponsored by Uralkali, a Russian brand, until 2022 and had Nikita Mazepin as one of their drivers, who was related to the brand.
However, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in late February 2022, there were many changes noted around the paddock, one such was with the American team. They ended their deal with Uralkali and Mazepin, getting rid of any Russian DNA on the car, even though they were not required to do so.
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However, after the PBS story, the team's integrity was under suspicion, and they released a statement making it quite clear that there has been no export to Russia ever since March 3, 2022. The statement read:
"On March 3, 2022, shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Haas Automation terminated, in its entirety, its relationship with its sole existing independent distributor for Russia and Belarus, Abamet Management."
"Since that date, [the brand] has not sold or shipped any machines, parts, or software to Abamet or anyone else in Russia. This crucial fact was made clear to the PBS reporter before the story was aired."
Haas justify their work within the US export policies
The story from PBS mentioned that the weapons that are used by the Russian military are built from components that are supplied to the country by the American brand. PBS mentioned that this could be a breach of the US sanctions. However, the brand came up to defend itself as its statement was mentioned above.
The statement also mentioned that the brand has been in the works for over three decades and has always worked under the American code of conduct and followed US policies.
"Haas Automation has been manufacturing machines for more than 30 years, and there are more than 200,000 Haas machines currently in use throughout the world."
"Throughout that period, Haas has been a strict adherent to all U.S. export control and sanctions regulations, and an even stronger supporter of the U.S. policy goals many of those regulations are designed to address."
While this may be expected to clear things up, there could still be a lot on the table for the brand and the Formula 1 team. They have started to gain some level of competitiveness against their rivals, but will be in need of financing for further development. Though MoneyGram is their current title sponsor, this story could bring in some turbulence, however, it might as well go well for the team.