Russia carried out its largest gold sale since 1998 to replenish its military budget
"Bank Rossii" continues to sell gold from its reserves for the tenth consecutive month as part of operations to cover the budget deficit; this year, this deficit will exceed initial plans twofold, reaching 7.3 trillion rubles.
Russia has executed its largest gold sale since 1998 to replenish its military budget.
In December, since the Central Bank launched its largest sale in recent decades, the volume of gold in its reserves decreased by 2 million troy ounces, or approximately 62 tons.
After that, the Kremlin accumulated only gold in its reserves and more than quintupled its gold reserve since the late 1990s. By the beginning of 2022, it amounted to 74 million troy ounces or 2.3 thousand tons, ranking fifth in the world in terms of volume.
Part of the sold Russian gold is heading to China, which increased its purchases of the precious metal from Russia to a historical record level this year. According to the Chinese Customs Administration, nearly 100 tons of gold mined in Russia were imported into Hong Kong in January–July — three times more than in the same period last year.
After the world's largest London market closed its doors to Russian gold, Russian suppliers are turning export toward the east.