New EU sanctions will only hit civilian chip makers, not defense orders

According to Kommersant, the fifth package of European sanctions imposed on Russia in connection with the military operation in Ukraine imposes a ban on the supply of materials for the production of microcircuits, in particular silicon, to the country.

In Russia, there are deposits of this material and the production of silicon wafers. However, it is only suitable for special-purpose technologies, and wafers for civil electronics were purchased in Europe. As a result, it is concluded that the sanctions will hit only the producers of civilian products, but not the defense order, which the EU was counting on.

The source writes that foreign manufacturers of equipment and materials for the manufacture of semiconductors have already stopped deliveries since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine. Silicon wafers for chips are not produced in Russia. Ready-to-print board raw materials were purchased in Europe. The manufacturer of Russian chips confirms that when creating processors according to 90 nm standards, companies use imported silicon: “After the direct ban was introduced, only China remains an alternative.”

The main consumer of silicon wafers for the further production of chips is the Mikron plant in Zelenograd. For the past few years, the company has been trying to replace European materials with Chinese ones. At the same time, there are silicon deposits in Russia, as well as companies involved in its processing.

In addition, there are manufacturers of silicon wafers in Russia, but they mainly provide the production of microcircuits and discrete semiconductors for special purposes. Experts note that it is impossible to provide civilian production with Russian silicon in the near future, this will require significant investment and time. In addition, Russian chip manufacturers have been cut off from Taiwanese factories, and hundreds of thousands of processors already paid for are at risk of simply not reaching.