Russian Ambassador Yury Filatov could be left with no official car as the embassy is struggling to renew its leasing contracts.
Dealership Frank Keane BMW has sought clarification from the manufacturer over whether it should continue the contract in light of sanctions imposed on Russia over the brutal war in Ukraine.
On July 4, Mr Filatov’s spokesman Nikita Isakin wrote to Frank Keane BMW requesting “the official position” on the signing of new leasing contracts with the embassy. But the car firm has informed the embassy it will have to check with its manufacturer in Ireland and the UK on whether it will renew the lease.
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The embassy wrote in an email to the car dealer: “As I have told you earlier today, any diplomatic agent is exempt from all six packages of EU sanctions, as well as the US sanctions.
“If you need to be reassured of this, I can arrange an intervention from the Department of Foreign Affairs of Ireland so they can explain this to your superiors.”
In response on July 12, a sales manager for Frank Keane BMW told the embassy it needed to check and comply with all sanctions imposed on Russia.
The sales manager wrote: “We are in a position where we need to be compliant with the different regulations in place on this. We have asked for advice from the manufacturer, from BMW Ireland/UK and so on.
“It would be very good if we could have some guidance from the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs as to what is and what is not possible given the situation we are facing. It would be ideal to have some guidance in writing.”
The Russian ambassador’s spokesman wrote to the Department of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday asking Government officials to assure the car dealer it would not face any repercussions if it renewed the contract.
Mr Isakin said: “I am forwarding you the request from our dealer Frank Keane BMW. They seek clarification on the issue of sanctions, therefore we would appreciate it if you could assure them that all diplomatic agents are exempt from EU sanctions, with no possible repercussions for BMW.”
A source familiar with the communications said Frank Keane BMW is still waiting on clarification from the manufacturer in Ireland, UK, Germany and the Irish authorities.
The source added: “It is a tough situation and especially for the people of Ukraine. The dealer has to wait for the right clarification because they want to be compliant with every piece of current guideline and sanctions, that’s critical and guidance has been sought.
"They’re in unknown territory. It’s still a waiting game to see what’s the right approach.”
Labour leader Ivana Bacik has said she believes it’s appropriate for any company or business involved in supplying goods and services to the embassy to make enquiries about their status in light of the sanctions and the brutal war in Ukraine.
She said: “It does seem to be appropriate for a car company supplying cars to the ambassador to seek clarification on how their contract is affected by sanctions.
“The bigger point is this is a consequence of continuing diplomatic relations with Russia and continuing to have the ambassador here, is that there are going to be companies and organisations essentially compromised because they have to supply services.
“It would be good to see clarity on the role of companies that are supplying the Russian Embassy in light of the sanctions that are being imposed.
“On a more general ethical point, whatever the legal status of companies that are involved in supplying the embassy, I do think and I can imagine that a lot of employees of different companies would have ethical concerns about the continuation of the supply to the embassy.”
A spokeswoman for Frank Keane BMW said: “I can confirm that Frank Keane BMW are the authorised BMW Diplomatic sales agents for Ireland. We do not comment or discuss any of the specific sales that we make or that we supply within this international BMW-approved programme.”
The Irish Mirror contacted the Department of Foreign Affairs for comment.
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