Russian Oligarchs Flee BRICS Projects Amid Trump 2.0 Sanction Fears – What’s Next?

28 Jul, 2025
| Salome K

Russian oligarchs fleeing BRICS projects? Fear of Trump 2.0 is driving investors away.

Moscow, July 25, 2025 – The international diplomatic world is buzzing with rumors that Russian oligarchs have quietly withdrawn from strategic BRICS projects in recent months. The cause? The threat of a new wave of sanctions under the presidency of Donald Trump, who was re-elected last month.

While there is no official confirmation of this shift, numerous signals – emerging from financial networks in Dubai, Moscow, and Geneva – point to a striking reluctance among Russian elites to continue openly participating in the economic architecture of the BRICS bloc.

The silent exit from BRICS?

According to multiple sources from the international business community, including bankers and diplomatic insiders, the Kremlin has encouraged Russian billionaires since 2022 to finance strategic BRICS initiatives through so-called “patriotic investments.” These included energy and infrastructure projects in India and South Africa, payment cooperation with China, and even exploratory initiatives for an alternative BRICS currency—possibly backed by gold reserves.

But since Donald Trump intensified his campaign with sharp rhetoric against the BRICS and promises of “total economic retaliation” for countries that want to break away from the dollar, the tide has turned. Now that Trump has won the election in early July 2025 and will begin his second term in January 2026, nervousness is growing. Russian business magnates, often the target of Western sanctions since 2014, appear unwilling to risk new freezes or exclusion from the global financial system.

Trump speaks clearly: “BRICS is dead”

In several speeches and interviews during his campaign, Trump left no doubt about his course. In his characteristic style, he labeled BRICS a “threat to the US dollar” and announced potential import tariffs of 100 to 150 percent for countries participating in a BRICS currency or trading system outside US oversight. “BRICS is dead on arrival if I’m back,” he said in March at a rally in Florida.

That message was clearly understood in Moscow and elsewhere. According to sources within the Russian financial sector, several oligarchs have since ceased their involvement in multilateral projects explicitly linked to BRICS. Some have even converted their family offices into trusts in the Middle East, particularly in the United Arab Emirates, to park sanctions-safe assets.

The rise of alternative structures is stalling

The development is striking, because since its founding in 2009, BRICS has consistently tried to position itself as a counterweight to Western dominance, particularly that of the dollar and institutions like the IMF and the World Bank. In 2023 and 2024, the bloc took strong steps toward de-dollarization:

Local currency trading: Russia and China conducted transactions in yuan; India used rupees for Russian oil imports.
Alternative payment systems: Russia’s SPFS and China’s CIPS as a counterpart to SWIFT.
Gold accumulation: Russia and China increased their gold reserves, fueling speculation about a gold-backed BRICS currency.
The BRICS Investment Bank (NDB) financed projects outside the dollar economy.

But according to recent data, the growth of these structures is stalling. New investments have been frozen, and the expected announcement of a BRICS currency unit was postponed in June “for technical and geopolitical reasons.”

Shadow play around Russian elites

Analysts believe the Russian oligarchs’ behavior is not only motivated by economics but also by political strategy. By temporarily withdrawing from international BRICS initiatives, they hope to avoid the scrutiny of the US Treasury Department. An implicit message seems to be: “We are loyal to Russia, but we do not want to become a target in an American sanctions offensive.”

Instead of the wealthy elite, Russian media reports suggest other actors are now occupying the space. Names like Ilan Shor—a Moldovan-Russian financier already under sanctions—are emerging as stand-ins in investment structures where discretion is more important than reputation.

Sanction-safe investing: Dubai, crypto, and commodities

A striking parallel trend is the shifting of capital: Russian assets are increasingly being reinvested in sanctions-safe assets such as gold, diamonds, Gulf real estate, and cryptocurrencies. Dubai serves as a hub for these operations: discretionary, prosperous, and outside the direct control of the US or EU.

Obscure state banks in Central Asia and Africa are also being used to shield BRICS-related financial flows. This creates an informal financial infrastructure that, while less efficient than the traditional system, is considered safer in times of geopolitical uncertainty.

Is BRICS doomed?

Trump’s re-election has undoubtedly dampened the momentum within the BRICS. Yet, the bloc remains formally intact, and the expansion with new members like Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Saudi Arabia is still a reality. But the momentum seems to have been broken.

As one Chinese analyst put it: “BRICS needed a 20-year strategic horizon, but Western pressure is forcing us into a six-month tactical survival game.”

The question, then, is not whether BRICS will survive, but whether it can still fulfill its original ambitions – to create a new financial powerhouse – in a world where geopolitics dictates the economy more than ever.

Final remarks

The potential withdrawal of Russian oligarchs from BRICS projects—unofficial for now, but likely real—underscores the fragility of international cooperation in the age of economic warfare. Capital flows not where ideals prevail, but where security and profit beckon.

As one Russian commentator pointedly put it: “The BRICS dream is strong, but no oligarch is willing to sacrifice his millions on the altar of multipolarity.”