Gold may fall under EU sanctions

Gold may become the object of new anti-Russian sanctions of the European Union, representatives of Brussels said. The issue of imposing restrictive measures on the precious metal is likely to be discussed at a meeting of EU leaders on June 23-24. 

Scandinavian countries and Eastern European countries propose to announce the seventh package of sanctions following the meeting, while Germany and Belgium urge to focus on the implementation of measures already introduced. The idea to extend sanctions to gold was proposed by Denmark. 

At the same time, it is unclear whether we are talking about a ban on the export of gold from the Russian Federation or the import of precious metals from Russia. It is also not yet known whether the ban applies only to the gold of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation or to the metal mined in Russia as a whole. In total, in 2021, Russia exported over 302 tons of gold worth $ 17.4 billion, while the import into the country was symbolic – only 1 ton for $ 19 million. 

A huge share of gold turnover falls on the UK (266 tons for $ 15.4 billion), which is an important global hub for the turnover and storage of precious metals. At the same time, the EU countries account for only 13 tons for $738 million. 

Russian gold miners, as a rule, sell gold to commercial banks, which can then export it or resell it domestically. Today, after several large Russian banks fell under sanctions, gold mining companies began to look for direct access to foreign markets (UAE, Turkey, China and Kazakhstan) and obtain export licenses.