The Russians found a safe haven for their assets. However, they have to stretch themselves

Russian millionaires are not in such a dire situation as it may seem. Despite the sanctions that all civilized countries in the world have imposed on Russia, there are also those that have decided to pretend that nothing is happening in Ukraine or that a “special operation” is underway. Among the countries that have left a loophole for saving Russian assets is the United Arab Emirates.

Real estate for cryptocurrencies

It turns out that the United Arab Emirates has become Russia's El Dorado. Russians fleeing with their wealth from Western sanctions rushed to buy Arab real estate. The market has experienced exceptional growth since the first sanctions packages.

Russians, who learned that they might soon lose access to their assets, decided to invest them in such a way as to save at least some of these funds. They do this in two steps. First, they exchange their assets for cryptocurrencies and then use them to buy real estate in the United Arab Emirates. It turns out that despite the declarations of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges, such as Binance or Coinbase, the rest are reluctant to join in blocking Russian assets. Their explanation is that the funds accumulated in digital wallets are difficult to identify and it is almost impossible to prove that they may belong to a Russian investor.

Estates of oligarchs. The United Arab Emirates in the crosshairs

The Financial Action Task Force, the American body that tracks financial crimes, this week placed the United Arab Emirates on its “grey list.” This means that the country and its financial flows will be closely watched. Inspectors suspect that the UAE (mainly Dubai) is now the main direction of flow of funds from the accounts of not only wealthy Russians, but also those subject to international sanctions.