8 September 2026
The large-scale sale of gold bars from its reserves, which the Central Bank of Russia began in 2026, made it the largest seller of gold among all central banks in the world.
According to the World Gold Council (WGC), in the second quarter, the Central Bank of Russia sold 21.77 tonnes of the precious metal from its reserves, far outpacing the Central Bank of Turkey, which ranked second in sales at 4.23 tonnes.
Other central banks, if they sold gold at all, sold in negligible amounts: Mexico (0.1 tonnes), Malta (0.03 tonnes), and Romania (0.01 tonnes), according to WGC data. The largest buyers of gold were the Central Bank of Poland (50.79 tonnes), as well as the central banks of China (32.97 tonnes) and Uzbekistan (16.17 tonnes).
The Russian Central Bank is actively selling gold primarily to “cover the state budget deficit and the shortage of foreign exchange liquidity with the proceeds,” notes Finam analyst Alexander Potavin. According to its own data, from the beginning of the year to the end of July, the Bank of Russia sold 1.6 million troy ounces from its reserves (49.7 tonnes).
This was the largest single sale of gold reserves since the 1998 default: then, amid the collapse of the GKO pyramid, Russia sold 3.8 million ounces in three months (118 tonnes), according to International Monetary Fund statistics . As of August 1, the Central Bank’s gold reserves had fallen to 73.2 million troy ounces—the lowest since 2020.
The fact that the Kremlin has begun selling off gold suggests that “they are running out of other liquid assets,” notes Elina Rybakova, an economist at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. In the very first days of the war with Ukraine, the Central Bank lost $300 billion in gold and foreign exchange reserves, which were invested in dollars, euros, and other Western assets and were subject to sanctions. Of its foreign currency reserves, it now has only about $100 billion left in Chinese yuan.
The Central Bank’s gold situation indicates “growing pressure” related to Russia’s budget deficit and “pressure related to sources for financing this deficit,” notes Rybakova. According to the Ministry of Finance, the “hole” in the federal treasury amounted to 6.45 trillion rubles from January to July, compared to 5.7 trillion rubles last year.
However, the gold selloff shouldn’t be interpreted as Russia going bankrupt, emphasizes Chris Weafer, an analyst at Macro-Advisory : the Russian Central Bank’s gold reserves are the fifth-largest in the world, and so far they have only shrunk by 2.1%. At the current rate of 200,000-300,000 ounces per month, it will take about 20 years to sell them all off.
The Central Bank will likely continue selling gold, according to Potavin: at the beginning of the year, the precious metal accounted for 48% of Russian reserves; this share has now dropped to 41.5%. “Perhaps the threshold could be around 40% or slightly lower. However, as long as the need to cover a significant budget deficit persists, gold’s share of reserves could continue to decline,” Potavin said.
Knowing these F’ers each bar is prob lead painted gold. A land mass of perpetual liers…