Russia revealed to have imported $29m from Rwanda in breach of sanctions

An investigation by independent media outlet Verstka has found that earlier this year Russia purchased $29.2 million in cash from the Rwandan Defence Ministry, bypassing Western sanctions on cash imports, the publication reported on Monday, citing classified data from Russian customs statistics.

Despite both the United States and the EU banning the export of their banknotes to Russia in March 2022 following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, since then around $2.3 billion (€2.07 billion) in dollar and euro bills have been shipped to Russia, according to an investigation by Reuters last month.

According to Verstka, Russia’s state-controlled arms exporter, Rosoboronexport, purchased the shipment of $100 notes weighing nearly 300 kilograms from Rwanda in January.

From 2023 until earlier this year, Aero-Trade, a company operating duty-free shops at airports in five Russian cities, imported foreign currency to Russia from Turkey and the UAE.

Aero-Trade registered its last two major banknote deliveries of $20 million and €20 million on 18 January, one month after the US threatened fines for institutions helping Russia bypass sanctions, according to Verstka. Five days later, on 23 January, Rosoboronexport purchased the cash shipment from the Rwandan Ministry of Defense.