Switzerland, a major global hub for gold, has followed the EU in banning imports of Russian gold as part of new sanctions due to the сonflict in Ukraine.
“The new measures primarily concern a ban on buying, importing or transporting gold and gold products from Russia. Services in connection with these goods are also prohibited,” the economics ministry said.
The measures came into force on August 3. Before that, only exports of gold from Switzerland to Russia had been banned. Since March 7, trade of bullion produced by Russian refineries has not been possible in Switzerland, due to a decision by the leading London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), swissinfo.ch writes.
The potential impact of the new sanctions on Swiss refineries is unclear.
Reacting to the decision on Thursday, the Swissaid NGO said it was a welcome step, but that more needed to be done to ensure that no Russian gold enters Switzerland via indirect channels – for example after having been further processed in a third country.
Switzerland’s five gold refineries process some 70% of the raw gold mined in the world each year. For Russia, meanwhile, the precious metal represents the country’s most valuable export after energy, swissinfo.ch notes.
Alex Shishlo for Rough&Polished
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