Russia Depletes Gold Holdings, Reserves at Lowest Since 2020

Russia’s central bank continues to sell gold from its reserves, pushing the country’s holdings of the precious metal to their lowest level in more than six years.

Central bank data released on Thursday showed Russia’s gold holdings shrank by 1.6 million ounces since the beginning of the year to 73.2 million ounces as of 1 August.

“The figure is the smallest amount since January 2020,” according to Russian Central Bank data, as cited by Mining on Sunday (23/8/2026).

The decline in holdings is also reflected in the value of gold reserves. During the first seven months of this year, the value of the Russian central bank’s gold reserves fell by approximately US$33.7 billion, equivalent to Rp599.86 trillion (assuming an exchange rate of Rp17,800 per US dollar).

The Russian Central Bank was previously one of the world’s largest gold buyers. The institution absorbed most of the country’s domestic gold production until it halted purchases in early 2020.

Russia briefly recommitted to buying gold two years later. The policy helped absorb some of the gold supply that was difficult to export after the country was hit by international sanctions following its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. However, large-scale gold purchases were not resumed.

Gold sales began to increase last year when Russia’s Ministry of Finance released gold and foreign currency from the National Wellbeing Fund to help cover the budget deficit. This occurred amid declining revenues from the energy sector.

The central bank then carried out balancing operations in the domestic market through a mechanism known as the mirror mechanism. The move was taken to mitigate the impact of government transactions on the rouble exchange rate while maintaining financial system stability.

With sales continuing, Russia’s gold reserves now stand at their lowest point since early 2020. This development marks a shift from the gold accumulation strategy that had previously been one of Russia’s key instruments in strengthening state reserves.