While Western sanctions have successfully disrupted Russia’s ability to trade in gold, the country holds a considerable influence over the production of gold in Central Asia and Africa.
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00:00Gold plays an important role in Russia's wartime trade relations.
00:09Gold has become a significant strategic resource for the Russian government since the invasion of
00:15Ukraine. Russia has been using gold as means to obtain hard currency, weapons and other goods,
00:22especially from countries like China, Turkey and Iran. Between November and December 2023,
00:29Russia was the world's fifth largest holder of gold reserves with more than 2,000 tons.
00:35The US took first place with just over 8,000 tons, followed by Germany and Italy and France.
00:44However, Western sanctions have been successful in disrupting Russia's ability to trade in gold,
00:51as well as other precious metals and stones. Sanctions have also played a part in slowing
00:57gold production itself within Russia. Before the invasion of Ukraine, Germany was the largest
01:04supplier of vital foreign mining equipment to Russia, as much as 29% of the total,
01:11while the US was responsible for 21%. Now, given Russia's outdated mining
01:18equipment from the Soviet period, it is far more reliant on supplies from China,
01:24which is making Russian gold producers unable to keep up with demand.