Russia's secret dollar haven in Turkey: Bypassing sanctions
"The Wall Street Journal" reported that Russia aimed to create a "dollar reserve" in Turkey under the pretext of financing the construction of a nuclear power plant. This plan was the Kremlin's strategy to bypass the sanctions imposed by the United States. The funds were intended to support military operations.
"WSJ" detailed the scheme by which Russia planned to evade the sanctions with Turkey's assistance. According to the newspaper's findings, representatives from both countries had agreed that Gazprombank, which had not been sanctioned then, would provide a loan of nearly £7 billion for the construction of the "Akkuyu" nuclear power plant. Rosatom, the Russian state agency responsible for coordinating the cooperation of research centres and institutions for the civilian use of nuclear energy, is involved in this project.
The money was to be deposited into an account at Turkey's largest state-owned bank, Ziraat. It would then be transferred to Russian companies that also have accounts with this bank. The Bank of Russia was allegedly meant to secretly ensure the financing of this loan. This operation aimed to bypass the necessity of transferring funds through American banks, increasing the supply of dollars in Turkey's financial system.
Russia wanted to circumvent sanctions. They mention Erdoğan's associate
"WSJ" reports that Russians ultimately succeeded in transferring money through two American banks. Gazprombank sent nearly £2.4 billion to nuclear power plant accounts in Turkish "Ziraat" via Citigroup, while another £1.6 billion was transferred through JPMorgan. The next tranche, amounting to £1.6 billion, was blocked, and the funds were frozen.
The US wanted to seize this money, but according to an American newspaper, Joe Biden's administration did not consent to this step. The US did not wish to provoke Ankara or damage relations, as Turkey continues to play an important role in Middle East policy and security, which is significant for the US. The frozen funds remain untouched.
After the Central Bank's currency reserves were frozen in February 2022, its head, Elvira Nabiullina and state corporations, received a direct order from the Kremlin to find ways to use these funds. The scheme—suspected by the US—may have involved other high-ranking Russian officials and one of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's key advisors, National Intelligence Chief İbrahim Kalın.
Sanctions against Gazprombank were imposed in November 2024, and these restrictions also extended to six of its foreign subsidiaries. Until then, Gazprombank was the sole bank facilitating settlements with buyers of Russian gas from so-called "unfriendly" countries. Sanctions against Rosatom in the US have still not been implemented. The latter assures that the funds designated for the nuclear power plant were used to finance the project and fulfil obligations to contractors and others.
