UAE, Hong Kong and Türkiye have become the main destinations for the sale of Russian gold – Kommersant

Russia redirected gold supplies to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Hong Kong and Turkey after the imposition of sanctions by the European Union and the G7 countries. Little-known companies began to sell Russian gold. This was reported Bloomberg with reference to ImportGenius.

The UAE became the main direction for the sale of Russian gold. From March to August 2022, the volume of exports of this metal reached $500 million. Traders Paloma Precious DMCC and Al Bahrain Jewelers LLC were engaged in deliveries – they imported gold in the amount of $109 million and $50 million. The main buyers were in Dubai.

Türkiye is another popular destination. From March to August, gold worth about $305 million passed through the port of Istanbul.

In Hong Kong, Russian gold is also imported by VPower Finance Security Ltd, which transported the metal in the amount of $300 million.

ImportGeniu notes that for many new traders, selling gold is not their core business. Actava Trading DMCC is a brokerage firm specializing in the grain and oilseeds markets. Also in Russia, operations related to the import of gold began to serve smaller banks, while before the imposition of sanctions, this was usually done by Sberbank and VTB.

After the start of the military operation, Russian companies lost the ability to send gold to the vaults of large banks, including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and HSBC due to G7 and EU sanctions. Brink’s and Loomis, which dominate the precious metals transportation market, also stopped working with Russia.

Olesya Pavlenko