Russia is preparing new restrictions on the export of cash rubles and gold as part of a broader push to clamp down on the shadow economy, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Monday.
He said the measures will form part of a plan to “clean up” the economy, a task President Vladimir Putin has ordered the government to accelerate.
“The uncontrolled export of cash rubles of unknown origin, including to Eurasian Economic Union member states, will be prohibited, as will the export of gold bars from Russia,” Novak said at a Kremlin meeting on national projects and strategic development.
Under a Finance Ministry proposal, individuals would be allowed to take no more than 100 grams of gold out of the country.
Gold has increasingly become a substitute for foreign currency in illicit transactions, facilitating capital flight and money laundering, Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseev complained in September.
Russians took an estimated 20-25 tons of gold bars abroad in 2022-23 after wartime currency controls created loopholes in the trade, according to Mikhail Dyagilev, CEO of metals producer Krastsvetmet.
Overall, the government’s plan aims to cut the share of the shadow economy by 1.5% of GDP over the next three years and generate an additional 1 trillion rubles ($13.1 billion) in tax revenues, Novak said.
In addition to limits on exporting rubles and gold, the package includes eight other measures.
These target the import of goods, cash-register-free retail, self-employed workers, cryptocurrency transactions, illegal lending and the alcohol and tobacco markets, he said.
Putin told officials that tightening enforcement has become a priority for federal and regional authorities.
“With the VAT increase, we need to ensure nothing slips underground, that everything operates legally and that the corresponding revenues flow into the budget,” he said.
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