Russians Bought Record 57 Tons of Gold as Retail Tax Canceled

Russians bought a record 57 tons of gold from 13 local banks last year as they sought to safeguard savings following the invasion of Ukraine and took advantage of the cancellation of a retail tax.

The purchase of 1.8 million troy ounces was reported by Vedomosti newspaper, citing data it collected from lenders. That equates to more than 15% of the nation’s annual output of gold, and compares with just 6 tons of bullion bought in 2021.

Russia is the world’s second-biggest gold producer, mining over 330 tons of the precious metal in 2021. Since the invasion of Ukraine, Russian ...