The shadow infrastructure of global trade: how sanctions pressure generates parallel logistics and financing channels

Abstract

The article conceptualizes the shadow infrastructure of global trade as a structural consequence of infrastructural decoupling and sanctions pressure. It argues that restricted access to the legitimate infrastructure of international trade generates a concealed infrastructure reproducing the functions of transport, registration, insurance, and settlement beyond international oversight. A two-circuit model is proposed, comprising material and logistics, and financial and digital circuits. Their interaction enables the coordinated concealment of goods movement and related financial flows, making the architecture of trade transactions rather than their individual characteristics the primary object of concealment. The study concludes that effective de-shadowing policies should target the infrastructural mechanisms ensuring the resilience and self-reproduction of shadow trade.