US Treasury imposes ban on Russian gold imports

New Delhi: The United States has imposed a ban on the import of gold from Russia. The order to that effect has been published on the website of the US Treasury Department.

“The importation into the United States of gold of Russian Federation origin is prohibited, except to the extent provided by law, or unless licensed or otherwise authorized by OFAC,” the document says.

“This determination excludes gold of Russian Federation origin that was located outside of the Russian Federation prior to today,” the US Treasury notes. The order comes into effect from the moment of publication.

The US Treasury Department notes that the ban, in particular, applies to all gold-related transactions involving the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, the National Wealth Fund, and the Russian Ministry of Finance.

However, Russia’s trade relations with major economies have been spoiled since invading Ukraine. On 24 February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War that began in 2014. The invasion caused Europe’s fastest-growing refugee crisis since World War II, with more than 7.5 million Ukrainians fleeing the country and a third of the population displaced.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow had no plans to occupy Ukrainian territories, and the goal was to demilitarize and denazify the country. Vladimir Putin said that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbas republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation.

(Vinayak)