The Haas Formula 1 team has denied a report claiming the machine tools business it shares branding with broke export restrictions by supplying equipment to Russia following the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
Haas F1 Team and Haas Automation are owned by Gene Haas. On Tuesday American news channel PBS ran a report claiming Haas Automation products were transported to Russia between March and October last year. Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24th, 2022.
A statement issued by the team insisted “the story is simply false, both in its overall impression and in many of its particular statements.”
Haas Automation attacked the report. Vice president of outside operations Peter Zierhut said PBS’ claim that “at least 18 shipments were made to Russia directly from Haas worth $2.8 million from March 4 though October of last year” was a “complete falsehood.”
“It is irresponsible in the extreme for PBS to present this poorly-sourced hit piece, which ignores basic facts and asserts other facts that are clearly false,” Zierhut concluded.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had immediate implications for Haas’s F1 Team, which was sponsored by Russian chemicals giant Uralkali at the time. The team immediately ended the association with its title sponsor and terminated the contract of driver Nikita Mazepin, son of Uralkali chief Dmitry Mazepin. Haas Automation noted the cancellation of that deal cost it “millions of dollars”.
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Haas Automation statement on PBS story
On Tuesday, March 14, PBS ran a story alleging that Haas Automation has directly provided machines and parts to Russia in violation of U.S. export control and sanctions regulations. That story is simply false, both in its overall impression and in many of its particular statements.
Key Points:
Haas is and has always been in full compliance with U.S. Government export control
No machines have shipped from the Haas factory to Russia since March 3, 2022
The 18 machines referenced in the story left the Haas factory prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine
Haas voluntarily chose to terminate its relationship with the Russian distributor, which has never been required by any U.S. sanctions
Haas completely supports Ukraine and its people in their defence against Russia
As you may know, Haas Automation, like many U.S. companies, does not sell its machines directly to any end-user customers, in Russia or anywhere else. Instead, it sells machines to…
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