Syria secretly transported two tons of cash worth a quarter of a billion dollars to Moscow - FT
Kyiv • UNN
In 2018-2019, the Assad regime made 21 flights with cash to Moscow's Vnukovo airport. The funds were intended for deposits in sanctioned Russian banks and payment for services of the Russian Federation.
In 2018-2019, the Syrian authorities transferred two tons of cash worth $250 million to Moscow. The money was intended for deposits in Russian banks under sanctions. This was reported by the Financial Times, according to UNN.
The Financial Times has uncovered records showing that the Assad regime, facing an acute shortage of foreign currency, in 2018-2019 transported nearly two tons of banknotes weighing 100 dollar bills and 500 euro bills to Moscow's Vnukovo airport to deposit them in sanctioned Russian banks.
Data on Russian trade from the Import Genius export data service shows that on May 13, 2019, a plane landed at Moscow's Vnukovo airport with a cargo worth $10 million in $100 bills sent on behalf of Assad's central bank.
In February 2019, the central bank delivered about €20 million in 500 euro notes. A total of 21 flights with a declared value of more than $250 million were made between March 2018 and September 2019.
Until 2018, there were no such money transfers between the Syrian central bank and Russian banks, according to records kept since 2012.
A person familiar with the Syrian central bank's figures said that before 2018, foreign exchange reserves were “almost zero.” But due to sanctions, the bank was forced to make payments in cash, they added. According to the source, it bought wheat from Russia, paid for money printing services and “defense” expenses.
Russian data indicate that regular exports from Russia to Syria - for example, shipments of security paper and new Syrian banknotes from the Russian state printing company Goznak, as well as shipments of spare Russian military components to the Syrian Ministry of Defense - took place in the years before and after the large number of banknotes were delivered to Moscow.
The unusual transfers from Damascus underscore that Russia, a key ally of Assad's that has provided him with military support to prolong his regime, has become one of the most important destinations for Syrian cash as Western sanctions have driven it out of the financial system.
Opposition figures and Western governments accuse the Assad regime of looting Syria's wealth and turning to criminal activity to finance the war and enrich itself.
The supply of cash to Russia coincided with the fact that Syria became dependent on the Kremlin's military support, including mercenaries from the Wagner group, and the Assad family began to buy luxury real estate in Moscow.
Assad's flight to Moscow as the rebels approached Damascus even angered some former regime loyalists, who see it as proof that Assad is guided solely by his own interests.
Syria's relations with Moscow deepened dramatically after Russian military advisers supported Assad's military efforts and Russian companies were involved in the supply chain of valuable phosphate to Syria.
