Britain sanctioned two of Russia's largest gold producers, Nord Gold Plc and Highland Gold Mining Ltd. Britain's National Crime Agency (NCA) also issued an alert to financial institutions, warning them about Russian attempts to use gold to evade sanctions, Reuters reported.
Those sanctioned also include a United Arab Emirates-based network which Britain said was responsible for channelling more than $300 million in gold revenues to Russia, as well as businessmen Vladislav Sviblov and Konstantin Strukov.
The NCA said it hoped its notice would put banks and traders in Britain, a key location for precious metal trading, on alert so that Russian attempts to launder sanctioned gold by masking its origin could be spotted and stopped.
Britain also sanctioned energy trading firm Paramount Energy & Commodities DMCC, saying its opaque ownership structures have been used by Russia to blunt the impact of the G7's oil-related sanctions.
MNA