The Central Bank of the Russian Federation is preparing new restrictions on the export of cash and gold

The Bank of Russia expects in the near future a tightening of the rules for exporting large amounts of cash and gold bars from the country. The regulator explains the need for changes by abuses identified after the introduction of the current restrictions in the spring of 2026.

This was stated by the head of the financial monitoring and currency control service of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, Bogdan Shablya, at the International Banking Forum. According to him, the current decree needs to be finalized taking into account the practice of its application.

At the same time, the specific new limits have not yet been named. A representative of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation, Alexei Yakovlev, also did not specify whether the authorities plan to reduce the threshold amounts. At present, the main direction of changes concerns the verification of the origin of money and documents that allow large sums to be transported.

The Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank and the Federal Customs Service plan to create a unified information system that will allow verifying the authenticity of such documents and recording their use. The Russian authorities claim that they have recorded attempts to export different batches of cash several times using the same set of supporting documents.

The current rules have been in effect since April 1, 2026. Individuals exporting cash rubles from Russia to Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan in an amount exceeding the equivalent of 100 thousand dollars must use designated crossing points and confirm the origin of the funds with bank or other prescribed documents. For legal entities and individual entrepreneurs, the special procedure applies regardless of the amount.

From May 1, a special procedure for exporting gold bars with a total weight of more than 100 grams has also been introduced. For such export, separate airports and permission from the Federal Assay Chamber are required.

The restrictions on gold were explained by the Russian authorities by a sharp increase in transactions with precious metals. According to Rosfinmonitoring, back in 2023, citizens purchased tens of tons of gold, part of which was subsequently taken abroad. Regulators also reported the use of false documents in such operations.

Earlier, the head of the Bank of Russia, Elvira Nabiullina, stated that the restrictions on exporting large amounts of cash rubles and gold are considered by the authorities as one of the tools to combat 'gray' imports and shadow settlements.