Armenia’s trade with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) more than quintupled to nearly $5 billion in the first ten months of 2024, with the South Caucasus country looking set to become a major channel for exports of Russian gold and diamonds to world markets.
Government data shows that Armenian exports to the UAE accounted for more than 98% of trade volume, technically making the Gulf country Armenia’s main export market. Armenian goods and commodities, however, represented only a small percentage of this volume.
The Armenian government’s statistical committee reported that between January and October 2024, imports and exports of gold, diamonds and various jewelry items increased more than fivefold, totaling $6.8 billion and $7.4 billion, respectively. billion dollars. Although Armenia has gold producing, diamond cutting and jewelry industries important to the national economy, their annual turnover can only generate a fraction of these figures, meaning that external factors are behind these astronomical increases.
According to the commission, Russian exports to Armenia increased by $5.6 billion to almost $8.3 billion during the same period. Armenian media reported, throughout the year, a sharp increase in shipments of Russian gold and, to a lesser extent, diamonds to Armenia, and then their re-export, possibly after processing, to third countries.
Citing the National Customs Service, the investigative publication Hetq.am claims that Armenia imported around 66 tons of gold worth $4.4 billion as early as the first half of 2024 and that almost all comes from Russia. The latter cannot directly supply the precious metal to Western buyers due to sanctions imposed after its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Armenia shipped almost as much gold abroad during the same period, with the United Arab Emirates taking about two-thirds of those exports, with the rest going mainly to China. This explains why Armenian exports to China almost tripled between January and October to almost $1 billion.
In a recent article, Hetq.am identified more than a dozen Armenian companies involved in large-scale imports and re-exports of Russian gold. According to this article, one of these companies is linked to the family of Khachatur Sukiasian, a wealthy businessman and parliamentarian representing Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s Civil Contract party.
The lucrative commercial operations also appear to have involved Russian diamonds, also targeted by sanctions from the United States and the European Union. In 2023, Armenia is estimated to have exported (mainly to the United Arab Emirates) 4.5 million carats of diamonds worth approximately $590 million, a volume far exceeding the combined annual production of Armenian companies of size of diamonds. The Armenian Customs Service has still not released diamond data for 2024.
Armenian entrepreneurs have also taken advantage of the sanctions by re-exporting many Western-made products to Russia. It is the main driver of the rapid economic growth recorded in the country in 2022 and 2023. This growth moderated in 2024 and is expected to slow further this year.
Reprinted with permission from RFE/RL Copyright(c)2007 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.1201 Connecticut Ave, t N.W. Washington DC 20
