Russia to Tighten Restrictions on Export of Cash Rubles and Gold to EAEU Countries

Russia is preparing new restrictions on the export of cash rubles and gold to EAEU countries, including Kazakhstan. Current rules already prohibit individuals from exporting more than $100,000 in cash equivalent and more than 100 grams of refined gold from Russia to EAEU countries. Now the Bank of Russia has said it wants to tighten these requirements, FinFly writes.

What currently cannot be exported from Russia to Kazakhstan

This concerns not any cash currency, but specifically cash rubles.

Since April 1, 2026, individuals are prohibited from exporting cash rubles from Russia to EAEU countries in an amount exceeding the equivalent of $100,000 at the official exchange rate of the Bank of Russia on the date of export.

For legal entities and individual entrepreneurs, the restriction is stricter: the export of cash rubles to EAEU countries is prohibited regardless of the amount. However, the decree provides for certain exceptions, including for export through specific international airports with supporting bank documents.

Since May 1, a separate restriction applies to gold: in general, the export of refined gold in bars with a total weight exceeding 100 grams from Russia to EAEU countries is prohibited. For certain routes and cases, an exception is provided with permission from the Federal Assay Chamber.

Why the rules are being tightened

On September 23, Bogdan Shablya, head of the Bank of Russia's Financial Monitoring and Currency Control Service, said that Decree No. 193 is planned to be amended.

"The decree is indeed very important, very serious. We hope it will also be amended and modified in the near future, since practice shows that more order needs to be established in this area," he said at the International Banking Forum.

According to Shablya, one of the problems relates to documents confirming the origin of money. The Bank of Russia believes they need to be checked more strictly and prevent the reuse of the same documents for multiple batches of cash.

So far, the specific parameters of future changes and the timing of their introduction have not been announced.

What about exporting money from Kazakhstan to Russia?

Kazakhstan has its own restrictions – and they are significantly stricter in terms of amount.

According to Presidential Decree No. 830 of March 14, 2022, the export of cash foreign currency and foreign currency monetary instruments from Kazakhstan in an amount exceeding the equivalent of $10,000 at the National Bank's exchange rate on the date of export is prohibited.

That is, if a Kazakh citizen intends to export, for example, a large sum of dollars or euros in cash from the country, simply declaring it is not enough: amounts over $10,000 are subject to a direct export ban.

At the same time, EAEU customs rules separately set a threshold of $10,000 for mandatory declaration of cash when crossing the external customs border of the Union. For amounts over $100,000, documents confirming the origin of the money must also be provided.

Kazakhstan also restricts gold exports

The restrictions apply not only to cash.

According to the State Revenue Committee, the export from Kazakhstan of gold bars of refined gold with denominations of 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 grams issued by the National Bank, as well as refined gold weighing more than 100 grams, is prohibited.

Thus, if traveling from Kazakhstan to Russia, one must take into account Kazakh restrictions on export. If moving in the opposite direction, from Russia to Kazakhstan, Russian rules apply.