Russia's Gold Reserves Hit Highest Level Ever

Russia has accumulated a record gold reserve in the last twenty-five years. In January, the share of gold in Russian reserves reached 33.3%, representing the highest figure since autumn 1999. The value of the gold reserves exceeded 200 billion dollars. Could this signal a shift away from the dollar, euro and yuan in favour of gold as a medium of exchange?
Last week, the Bank of Russia reported that Russia's international reserves as of February 1 rose to $620.8 billion from $609.1 billion on January 1.
Russia's investments in gold in January, after two months of decline, began to grow again: in a month they grew by 5.5% to $206.58 billion, which is the second result in modern history – only October last year had more.
As of August last year, Russia was among the top five countries in terms of gold reserves, ahead of China and behind the United States, Germany, Italy and France, according to Oleg Akimov, associate professor of the Department of Banking and Entrepreneurship at the State University of Management.
In terms of the volume of replenishment of gold reserves over the last ten years, Russia has become the leader with +1298 tons, ahead of China (+1181) and Turkey (+424 tons).
Now the figures that reported for China I do not believe to be accurate,China is the World's largest gold producer and has been for many years,it produces around 350 tons per year and is not a gold exporter plus its banks are also gold buyers from the Shanghai Gold exchange . In my opinion the actual figure of gold holdings by the state and state banks is probably more likely to be around 7-8 thousand tons.
On the United States given that is gold reserves have not been audited in 60 years I think the figures of the US holdings to be inflated. Now that Elon Musk and his team at DOGE are going to carry out an audit there may be a major shock to the global financial system particularly if the figures he discovers do not correspond to what we have been told for decades.
That could trigger the gold price to soar to stratespheric levels.    
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Disappointment in the dollar
According to financier Lazar Badalov, Russia has been actively accumulating gold reserves for the past ten years. The primary motivations behind this strategy are the ongoing sanctions and the rise in gold prices, which have been influenced by geopolitical instability, sanctions wars, and the expansion of the money supply in the US and EU.According to the financier, gold's return to its traditional role as a monetary asset is evident in its use as a reserve currency and in international settlements and payments. It is noteworthy that the practice of maintaining a portion of gold and foreign exchange reserves in gold is a widespread global practice among many central banks.
In the 2000s, the Bank of Russia's strategy was to accumulate foreign currencies, primarily the US dollar. However, following the introduction of the first sanctions in 2014, the process of diversifying gold and foreign exchange reserves was initiated.After the freezing of Russian assets in 2022, it became evident that this process needed to be accelerated.
Badalov believes that the future of Russian sovereign savings is clearly gold. This strategy is justified in the new geopolitical realities, where gold serves as a "hedging instrument for any country that fears the aggressive policy of the West". The recent events in the world have completely erased any illusions about this.
In this context, Mikhail Gordienko, Professor of the Department of Sustainable Development Finance at the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, highlights the rationality of gold purchases, given the decline in the reliability of foreign exchange reserves as an asset class, exemplified by Russia's $300 billion foreign exchange reserves being frozen.
The Bank of Russia has acknowledged this shift, albeit with a certain delay in action. The dollar remains the global gold standard, and the development of new alternatives, such as the BRICS currency, is progressing slowly.It is too early to say whether Russia intends to make payments in gold instead of the dollar or any other currency.In fact, significant purchases of gold for reserves began back in 2009. The most successful years in terms of growth rates were 2009 (+24.91%) and 2010 (+21.51%), while in terms of absolute purchases, 2017 (+7.2 million troy ounces of gold) and 2018 (+8.8 million ounces) were the most significant.
However, since 2020, there has been a marked decline in gold acquisitions for international reserves, with the quantity of gold in international reserves rising from 73 to 75 million ounces from January 1, 2020 to January 1, 2023. However, from January 2023 to January 2025, the growth in the monetary gold mass virtually froze at 75 million ounces, as highlighted by Oleg Akimov.Consequently, Russia has effectively suspended new gold purchases to replenish its international reserves.The question then arises as to how the gold share in international reserves increased from 25.9% to 32% as of the beginning of this year. The answer appears to be evident to the expert, who attributes it to the positive revaluation of the value of monetary gold in dollars.At the beginning of 2024, gold was valued at $2,084 per ounce, and by the beginning of 2025, it had increased to $2,832.Since 2019, there has been a cycle of rising gold prices, which has resulted in an increase in its share in international reserves. Russia has made a profitable investment in this asset since 2009 and is now reaping the benefits of positive revaluation.
However, given the lack of significant growth in the mass of gold in international reserves in recent years, it would be inaccurate to suggest that Russia is preparing to switch to gold. "Instead, it was a question of diversifying international reserves while gold was relatively cheap," Akimov concludes.
For Russians, gold bars have become an alternative to currency – some banks even complain about their shortage. The fact is that, against the backdrop of Western sanctions, the authorities have abolished the 20% VAT on the sale of precious metal bars by banks to individuals. This has made investment gold an alternative to currency, since bars can be stored as long as desired, without fear of depreciation and exchange rate fluctuations. In addition, if necessary, gold can be taken abroad and sold there. At one time, there was even talk of setting a limit on exports.
Many people prefer to simply buy jewelry - firstly, it's beautiful, and secondly, it's fairly easy to sell. According to sociologists, every Russian citizen has about 20 grams of gold at home, which in total exceeds the state's reserves. In fact, this is a second gold reserve.
Of course, speculation on gold is impossible – this metal is considered an eternal value. However, it is gradually becoming more expensive, and there are no signs of a trend reversal yet. Thus, if not about profit, then about saving money in this way, you can think about it. Moreover, according to analysts, reaching the psychological mark of $3,000 per ounce is possible this year.