russia earned $216 billion from rising gold prices

This was reported by Bloomberg.

According to the Bank of russia, the country's international reserves reached $755 billion by the end of 2025, of which $326.5 billion was gold. The russian Ministry of Finance expects the price of gold to continue to rise and may exceed $5,000 per ounce.

Since 2022, the share of gold in total reserves has increased from 21% to 43%, while the volume of foreign currency and other assets has decreased by approximately 14%. Although assets blocked abroad remain inaccessible, the rise in gold prices compensates for most of russia's financial losses.

russia is the world's second-largest gold producer, mining more than 300 tonnes of the metal annually. However, due to sanctions, its gold is banned from the London Stock Exchange, making it difficult to sell large quantities on the world market.

The Bank of russia began to partially use its reserves only at the end of last year to cover the budget deficit through the sale of assets from the National Welfare Fund.

Analysts note that the rise in gold prices has been beneficial for russia due to global economic risks and inflation, as well as the decline in confidence in global reserve currencies.

In recent years, the rise in gold prices has been record-breaking: in 2025 alone, the metal rose in price by about 65% — the fastest annual increase since 1979. This has significantly increased the value of official reserves, even without additional purchases.

Source: Babel, Bloomberg