The Russian and Arab worlds are converging. Dubai switches to | Perspective

The Russian and Arab worlds are converging. Dubai switches to rubles, and Moscow to dirhams

Moscow Stock Exchange may start operations with new currencies. The most famous among them is Arabian dirham, the currency of UAE.

Interest in the dirham in Russia is easy to explain. The UAE turned out to be one of the Middle Eastern centers for migration of the Russian business. And vice versa - in quiet years, the Emirates business has invested in Russia. And even in strategic industries.

For example, the sovereign Tawazun Fund received the government's "permission" to invest in the helicopter-building company Rostec back in 2019. Now that the list of countries friendly to Russia has seriously shrunk, the UAE investments are even more in demand.

And these are not the only points of contact between Russia and the UAE.

The UAE supported Russia in the UN Security Council vote on the "Ukrainian issue".

The "move" of Russian companies to the stock exchange in Abu Dhabi from London and New York is discussed.

Dubai became one of the centers of emigration from Russia in 2022. The Russian-speaking diaspora in the UAE has already exceeded 100 thousand people. There are many migrants from the IT sector.

There are almost 10,000 properties worth almost $3.3 billion owned by Russians in Dubai alone. Dozens of Russian officials, including those from Tatarstan and the republics of the Caucasus, have acquired housing in the UAE.