Sanctions will eventually end dollar dominance – Russian tycoon

US sanctions policies will eventually result in the dollar losing its longstanding dominance in the global economy, the founder of fertilizer producer EuroChem, Andrey Melnichenko, has told American journalist Tucker Carlson.

In a nearly two-hour interview published on Carlson’s YouTube channel on Wednesday, the two talked on a range of matters, including the Western sanctions imposed against the businessman over the Ukraine conflict.

Melnichenko, who founded EuroChem and coal-producing company SUEK two decades ago, was placed on the US and EU sanctions list in 2022, along with his wife. He was also blacklisted by other Western countries, including the UK and Switzerland.

Talking about the sanctions, Melnichenko said that he considers himself “collateral damage of the bigger conflict.” 

The businessman also claimed that many so-called traditional institutions, including the world’s reserve currency, will cease to exist as a result of the Western sanctions.

The de-dollarization process is gaining momentum across the globe, according to Melnichenko, who pointed out that currently more than 50% of Chinese foreign trade is settled in currencies other than the greenback. Just over a decade ago, around 90% of the country’s cross-border trade was conducted in the US currency.

In Russia, the dollar used to be the dominant currency for exports and imports, Melnichenko said, adding that “today it’s 14%, more or less like this, and the same process is going in other countries.” 

“In general, I think that the dollar will lose its position as the dominant world currency,” the businessman predicted, adding that this would be “one of the major consequences [of the sanctions].” 

According to Melnichenko, a new multipolar world order is currently in the making as “we are going through a period of time when the dominance of one superpower, the United States, will no longer be in the future in the same way it was before.” 

He further noted that China is growing with an “incredible speed” to become a world superpower. “We will see at least two superpowers, which will in one way or another organize world affairs going forward,” Melnichenko concluded.