Assad sent two tons of euros and dollars from the Syrian Central Bank to Russia: FT
In 2018-2019, Bashar al-Assad’s regime transported planes with cash totaling about two tons to Russia. From March 2018 to September 2019, 21 flights were made, during which more than 250 million dollars were transported. About this it is said in a report from the Financial Times.
As the publication notes, no official money transfers between the Central Bank of Syria and Russian banks were recorded during this period. Instead, the exported funds were placed in Russian banks. At the same time, the Assad family secretly bought assets in Russia, in particular, elite real estate in Moscow.
At that time, Syria was experiencing an acute shortage of foreign currency, and its reserves were depleting. The supply of cash to Russia coincided with the growing dependence of the Syrian regime on the Kremlin’s military support, including mercenaries from the Wagner group. Western governments and the opposition have accused Assad of looting Syria’s national resources and financing his own enrichment through criminal activity.
Former US Assistant Secretary of State for Middle East Affairs David Schenker said that the Assad regime regularly took funds abroad to protect its ill-gotten gains and assets.
“The regime had to transfer its money abroad to a safe place to be able to use it to ensure a good life”, he noted.
