According to Russian customs records cited by Reuters, the United Arab Emirates has become an important trading center for Russian gold since the West imposed sanctions on Russia over the Russo-Ukraine war, cutting off Russia’s more traditional export routes.
The records, which contain detailed information on nearly a thousand gold exports since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war, show that the UAE imported 75.7 tons of Russian gold worth $4.3 billion, much higher than the 1.3 tons in 2021.
The next destinations are China and Turkey, which will each import about 20 tons of gold from Russia from February 24, 2022 to March 3, 2023. According to customs data during this period, 99.8% of Russia’s gold exports went to three countries: the United Arab Emirates, China and Turkey.
In the past, the gold was usually shipped to London, the gold trading and storage center; but in the days after the Russian-Ukrainian conflict broke out, many multinational banks, logistics providers and precious metal refiners stopped trading Russian gold.
The London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) banned the import of Russian gold bars from March 7, 2022, and by the end of August, the UK, the EU, Switzerland, the US, Canada and Japan had banned the import of Russian gold bars.
However, Russia’s export records show that the country’s gold producers quickly found new markets in countries that did not impose sanctions on Moscow, such as the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and China.
Louis Marechal, an expert on gold provenance at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), said there was a risk that Russian gold would be melted down and recast, then hidden and resold into the U.S. and European markets.
The UAE government’s Gold Council said the country has a transparent and robust process in combating illicit commodities, money laundering and sanctioned entities.
“The UAE will continue to trade openly and honestly with its international partners in compliance with all existing international norms set by the United Nations.”
