Russia to United Arab Emirates
Checked 2026-09-29
Public law and official guidance, published as research. Not legal, tax or financial advice.
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Russian gold moving to the UAE. The UAE has not joined Western sanctions and says it trades in line with UN norms, so import is lawful under UAE law; the UAE was the largest destination for Russian gold in 2022. An EAEU-UAE Economic Partnership Agreement was signed on 27 Jun 2025 and ratified by Russia in May 2026 (text and gold coverage not held). The exposure is external: US secondary sanctions (OFAC designated a DMCC front company in June 2024 for obscuring payments from Russian gold sales; since June 2024 foreign banks risk sanctions for significant transactions involving any EO 14024-blocked person) and the UK, Swiss, Japanese and EU measures, which stop Russian gold, or third-country-processed gold containing it (UK, Switzerland), from moving on to those markets.
How sure this page is
- Secondary 1
Where practice departs from the law
What credible sources show happening that the law does not provide for.
Western origin-based bans redirected Russian gold to the UAE in 2022-23; later reporting says Hong Kong overtook Dubai as the main hub in 2023.
Secondary
What we could not obtain
Documents the research needed and could not get, where they might be, and why.
No gaps recorded