Britain buys most of Russia's gold exports in January, worth over $700mn

Russia exported 13.73 tons of rough gold in January, up 1.5 times year-on-year, according to data from the Federal Customs Service. In monetary terms, exports almost doubled to $812 million, data shows.

The customs service said that, in December, gold exports were higher – at 22 tons, worth $1.3 billion.

Supplies to the United Kingdom accounted for more than 90% (12.9 tons) of all Russian gold exports in January. The metal was also delivered to Kazakhstan and Switzerland.

In 2020, Russia exported gold worth a total of $18.535 billion, which is 3.2 times more than during the previous year. In physical terms, the export of gold in 2020 more than doubled – up to 320 tons against 123 tons in 2019.

In April, the Russian government allowed the Ministry of Industry and Trade to issue general licenses to producers for the export of refined gold and silver bullion on the basis of a statement approved by the Ministry of Finance. Prior to that, general export licenses were issued only to banks that received the corresponding license from the Central Bank. Companies and refineries were allowed to export precious metals on the basis of one-time licenses issued for a contract with a specific foreign counterparty.

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