Russians bought 95 tonnes of gold bars in 2023, no decision yet on export restrictions - MinFin

MOSCOW. Feb 1 (Interfax) - Individuals in Russia purchased about 95 tonnes of gold in bars in 2023, Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseyev told reporters.

This was down from 2022, when purchased totaled about 100 tonnes, according to revised data from the Finance Ministry.

Moiseyev said most purchases were made in the fourth quarter, when the exchange rate-linked export duty went into effect.

"We noticed that the year consists of two halves, or more precisely three quarters and one quarter, and that gold purchases by individuals decreased steadily throughout the whole year and then sharply rose in the fourth quarter. And coincidence with the introduction of the duty as of October 1 perplexed us, of course," Moiseyev said.

The Finance Ministry suspected that individuals taking gold out of the country might be a way to get around the exchange rate-linked export duty and proposed to impose restrictions.

"Concrete decisions on a restriction have not been made at this stage, because we're continuing to observe what is happening - was this some sort of one-off [surge] or is this really a new trend," Moiseyev said.

Demand remains strong at the moment and market players are seeing a shortage of retail-size gold bars, he said.

If a decision is made to restrict exports, "it will be pegged to a more or less common denomination, the weight of a gold bar," he said.

"But, of course, we also understand that any excess restriction can also harm legitimate businesses. And, of course, before such restrictions are introduced we must, of course, carefully study. Which is what we're doing now," Moiseyev said.