More Than Two Billion Dollars of Currency Imported into Russia Since the Start of War, Circumventing Sanctions

Since the beginning of the war, approximately $2.3 billion in American and European banknotes have been imported into Russia, according to customs data. Reuters reports that prior to the war, Russia was importing a significantly larger amount of currency.

The biggest surge in imports occurred just before Russian troops invaded Ukraine; from November 2021 to February 2022, $18.9 billion in banknotes were imported into Russia. In March 2022, the U.S. and the EU banned the export of their currencies to Russia.

Customs data reviewed by Reuters shows that during the period from March 2022 to December 2023, cash was imported from countries that have not imposed restrictions on trade with Russia, such as the UAE and Turkey. Moreover, in more than half of the cases, the country of origin of the funds was not specified in customs entries.

During the same period, Russia exported significantly less, approximately $98 million in banknotes, according to customs data.