US prohibits Russian gold imports; sanctions 70 entities, 29 individuals

The US Treasury Department announced Tuesday it prohibited Russian gold imports and imposed sanctions on 70 Russian entities and 29 individuals.

The move applies to gold of Russian origin but does not include gold located outside of Russia prior to Tuesday.

Gold is Moscow's biggest non-energy export and Russia is fourth in the world in gold exports with $18.7 billion in 2020, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity.

Russia is the world's second-biggest gold producer with approximately 10% of the global share, according to the World Gold Council.

The US said its action is joined by the UK, Canada and Japan, as announced at the G7 summit by US President Joe Biden on Sunday.

"Broad multilateral commitments and actions by G7 members this week further cut off the Russian Federation's access to technology that is critical to their military," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement. "Targeting Russia's defense industry will degrade (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's capabilities and further impede his war against Ukraine, which has already been plagued by poor morale, broken supply chains, and logistical failures."

The designations come on top of the US State Department's sanctions on an additional 45 entities and 29 individuals, according to the Treasury Department.

One of the major sanctioned entities is Russian state-owned enterprise Rostec which operates in the tech, aerospace, automotive, defense, aviation and metals industries.

Other entities include companies and subsidiaries in transport, freight, chemicals, petroleum, rubber, plastic, construction, business services, wholesale, electronics, communications and information security systems.