Major UAE banks crack down on Russian business operations
Photo: UAE massively blocks accounts of Russian companies (Getty Images)
Financial institutions in the United Arab Emirates have launched a large-scale "clean-up" of Russian businesses, according to the Ukrainian Foreign Intelligence Service.
In July 2025, UAE banks sharply increased financial control over Russian companies.
According to intelligence data, about 30% of firms received warnings about account closures or transaction restrictions.
The main reasons for these measures include:
- ignoring or responding late to banking requests,
- errors in documents or lack of information,
- discrepancies between cash flows and declared business activities,
- connections with countries on the FATF blacklist,
- and relationships with sanctioned individuals or companies.
Stricter controls followed sanctions by the UK and EU
The first large-scale inspections began in February 2024, immediately after the UK imposed sanctions on Emirati companies that were helping Russia circumvent restrictions.
A turning point came with the EU’s 18th sanctions package, which for the first time included Emirati entities.
This pushed UAE banks to adopt even tougher measures against Russian businesses.
The United Arab Emirates only recently came off the FATF gray list and now seeks to avoid being re-listed.
Sanctions against Russia
Recall that the EU adopted its 18th sanctions package against Russia. The list includes 22 banks, four companies linked to the Russian Direct Investment Fund, 26 entities related to the Russian military-industrial complex, and others.
EU Chief Diplomat Kaja Kallas called the 18th sanctions package one of the strongest since the start of the full-scale war.
According to the Estonian foreign minister, Brussels has already begun working on the next sanctions package.
