Repeated Evasion of Sanctions on Russia... Swiss Companies Illegally Bypass to Import Russian Gold

Non-metal Company 'Open Mineral'
Trading Through Abu Dhabi Subsidiary
Repeated Evasion of Russia Sanctions

The European Union (EU) has banned imports of Russian gold and crude oil as part of sanctions against Russia, but cases of some companies circumventing these measures to illicitly profit are emerging one after another.

According to major foreign media on the 17th (local time), Swiss non-metal trading company 'Open Minerals' revealed that it imported about $44 million (58.0844 billion KRW) worth of Russian gold from August last year to January this year through its subsidiary in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The EU banned imports of Russian gold and jewelry from member countries starting July last year. From December of the same year, a price cap was applied to Russian crude oil. Accordingly, Switzerland, an EU member country, also decided to join the sanctions on imports of Russian gold by its domestic companies from August 2022. However, Open Minerals’ Abu Dhabi branch imported Russian gold, effectively breaking the EU agreement. The Abu Dhabi branch of Open Minerals exploited Swiss law, which allows overseas subsidiaries legally independent from domestic companies to trade Russian goods, thereby evading sanctions.

In addition, Swiss energy company 'Paramount Energy & Commodities SA' was also found to have continuously traded Russian crude oil. The Group of Seven (G7), Australia, and the EU have imposed sanctions preventing purchases of Russian crude oil above $60 per barrel, and if the company bought crude oil on the market, it could be violating the price cap, according to major foreign media. The company explained that the Dubai branch, acquired from 'Paramount Energy & Commodities DMCC,' traded the crude oil and that it was unrelated to the headquarters.

Russia is taking advantage of this gap and accelerating exports of its domestic energy. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that Russia is scouring the globe to find buyers to import its domestic energy.

According to commodity market data company Kepler, Russia is also exporting 100,000 barrels of crude oil per day to Saudi Arabia. Despite Western sanctions, Russia’s crude oil exports to the United States reached $60 million last year, marking an all-time high and more than tripling compared to the previous year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.