BERN (Realist English). In the four months of Russia’s special operation on the territory of the former Ukraine, the European Union imposed six anti-Russian sanctions packages. However, the applicable restrictions do not apply to the sale of gold.
Switzerland imported gold from Russia in May for the first time since the start of Russia’s special operation on the territory of the former Ukraine in February, Swiss customs data showed on Tuesday. Switzerland received 3.1 tonnes of gold worth around $200 million from Russia in May, accounting for around 2-3% of its total gold imports, the customs data show. That compares with an average of around 2 tonnes of gold a month imported by Switzerland from Russia in the 12 months to February.
Switzerland is the world’s biggest refining and transit centre for gold and Russia is one of the biggest bullion producers.
The EU is seriously discussing the possibility of introducing a ban on the import of this precious metal from Russia.
In March, the Swiss Federal Customs and Border Protection Agency recorded the import into the country from the UAE of 36 tons of gold worth 2.1 billion Swiss francs. This volume is equal to the total imports of gold from an Arab country over the past six years. An abnormal increase in the volume of gold imports occurred immediately after the introduction of sanctions against Russia.
