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CNN: Russia is secretly exporting gold from Sudan. This helps to circumvent sanctions

Author:
Sofiia Telishevska
Date:

Journalists of the American TV channel CNN have published an investigation into the fact that Russia secretly exports gold from the African state of Sudan, disguising it as the export of other goods, including cookies. We are talking about 16 planes with gold in the last year and a half.

According to CNN sources, the scheme involves the military leadership of Sudan, which allows the export of gold to circumvent the laws, depriving the country of hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue.

The military leadership makes concessions in exchange for support for the Kremlin, as was the case de facto in 2021, when the Russian Federation supported the coup in Sudan, asserting the power of the military.

The former US official suggests that from the beginning, Russia was guided by plans for unhindered access to natural resources. An important role in this is played by Yevgeny Prigozhin and the "Wagner PMC" associated with him, which was previously reported in Africa and Sudan.

According to CNN, Meroe Gold, a gold miner and security services company, is owned by M-invest, a company linked to Prigozhin in Sudan. According to the "Dossier" center, the curator of operations for the export of Sudanese gold is Oleksandr Kuznetsov, who is called one of the high-ranking officials of Wagnerʼs PMC.

Russian expansion in Sudan began shortly after the annexation of Ukrainian Crimea. The supply of gold is considered an effective means of circumventing Western sanctions.