Almost $2.3 billion of dollars and euros have been shipped to Russia since the beginning of the full-scale war, violating sanctions from the U.S. and EU, Reuters reported on Aug. 12.
Both the EU and the U.S. implemented measures in March 2022 banning the export of dollars and euros to Russia. As the trade of dollars and euros subsequently decreased, Chinese yuan has increasingly filled the gap, becoming the most traded foreign currency.
At the same time, the data seen by Reuters indicates that dollars and euros continue to be widely used in Russia.
Much of the cash arrived in Russia via third-party countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Turkey, which have declined to join in such currency-related sanctions against Russia. For more than half of the cash in euros and dollars that arrived in Russia, the origin was not specified. Much of the cash payments went toward gold, arms, or for usage by banks.
Cash payments were often used as a means of circumventing sanctions on wire payments, sources told Reuters.
The data viewed by Reuters covered March 2022 through December 2023.
The U.S. has taken several steps to expand the purview of its sanctions against Russia, aiming to prevent circumvention. The U.S. has begun instituting penalties for banks or other financial institutions that continue to do business in the country, even unwittingly.
The new measures have likely contributed to some Chinese banks' withdrawal from Russia and other associated difficulties with trade between the two countries.
The Russian state-controlled media outlet Kommersant reported in July that Chinese banks are rejecting and returning about 80% of Russian payments made in yuan.
Reuters reported earlier in August that Russia and China have begun discussing barter-based trading as a way to bypass the sanctions-associated payment difficulties.
Rachel Amran
