The US authorities are making determined efforts to disable the Russian economy. In retaliation for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the White House first insisted on boycotting Russian oil imports. Recently, the US administration came up with the embargo on Russian gold. From now on, Moscow will find it more complicated to sell out national resources. 

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) within the US Treasury Department is assigned to managing sanctions. The agency posted the news about the official ban on Russian gold imports. All gold of Russian origin is subject to the embargo which came into force immediately after it had been passed by US lawmakers. “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. This determination excludes gold of Russian Federation origin that was located outside of the Russian Federation prior to today,” the statement reads. 

The Treasury Department pointed out that other G7 countries pledged to join the embargo on Russian gold. At the G7 summit in late June, the delegates reached a joint decision to cut off Russia from global markets and slash its budget revenues, including the one from gold exports. Once the US announced the ban, Canada, the UK, and Japan quickly followed suit. The boycott of Russian gold by G7 countries will shrink the Russian budget by $19 billion per year, US State Secretary Anthony Blinken commented on the newly-imposed sanction.