Biden: G-7 to ban Russian gold in response to Ukraine war
Source: AP
U.S. President Joe Biden, right, waves as he walks past Bavarian mountain riflemen and traditional costumers after his arrival at Franz-Josef-Strauss Airport near Munich, Germany, Saturday, June 25, 2022, ahead of the G7 summit. Biden is in Germany to attend a Group of Seven summit of leaders of the world's major industrialized nations. (Daniel Karmann/dpa via AP)
ELMAU, Germany (AP) — President Joe Biden said Sunday that the United States and other Group of Seven leading economies will ban imports of gold from Russia, the latest in a series of sanctions that the club of democracies hopes will further isolate Russia economically over its invasion of Ukraine. A formal announcement was expected Tuesday as the leaders meet for their annual summit.
Biden and his counterparts will huddle on the summit’s opening day Sunday to discuss how to secure energy supplies and tackle inflation, aiming to keep the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine from splintering the global coalition working to punish Moscow. Hours before the summit was set to open, Russia launched missile strikes against the Ukrainian capital Sunday, striking at least two residential buildings, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. They were the first such strikes by Russia in three weeks.
Senior Biden administration officials said gold is Moscow’s second largest export after energy and that banning imports would make it more difficult for Russia to participate in global markets. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said a ban by G-7 countries on Russian gold will “directly hit Russian oligarchs and strike at the heart of Putin’s war machine.” “Putin is squandering his dwindling resources on this pointless and barbaric war. He is bankrolling his ego at the expense of both the Ukrainian and Russian people,” Johnson said. “We need to starve the Putin regime of its funding.”
Britain says the value of gold exports to the Russian elite has increased since the war began as wealthy Russians seek to skirt Western sanctions. In recent years, gold has been the top Russian export after energy — reaching almost $19 billion or about 5% of global gold exports, in 2020, according to the White House. Of Russian gold exports, 90% was consigned to G-7 countries. Of these Russian exports, over 90%, or nearly $17 billion, was exported to the UK. The United States imported less than $200 million in gold from Russia in 2019, and under $1 million in 2020 and 2021.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-g-7-summit-inflation-biden-moscow-8ec2d58070215ec8393b25e4109eac97
Hearing this on the radio (CBS) right now at post time.
= new reply since forum marked as read
in just 4 months. 
as China is only doing what they are in order to strengthen their position as master of that area of the world. They are NOT Russia's lapdog! 
At present (give or take a couple years) -
Russian gold exports to UK rose nearly elevenfold to 113.5 tonnes in 2019
Author Toby Woodall Theme Metals
Russian gold exports to the U.K. rose nearly elevenfold in 2019 to 113.5 tonnes from just 10.4 tonnes in 2018, according to data from Russia's Federal Customs Service.
The U.K. received 91.9% of Russia's 123.6 tonnes of total gold exports in 2019 as Switzerland's share continued to shrink to just shy of 3.0 tonnes in 2019 from 27.3 tonnes as recently as 2017.
In 2020, Russia shipped nearly 8 tonnes in January, with 7.3 tonnes destined for the U.K., valued at US$367.3 million. Exports of the precious metal to Switzerland totaled 529 kilograms in January valued at US$25.4 million, while Turkey took 96.7 kilograms valued at US$4.8 million.
(snip)
In 2018, the U.K. overtook Switzerland as the top export market for Russian gold for the first time since 2012. The value of Switzerland's gold imports from Russia sank from US$1.09 billion in 2017 to US$211.5 million in 2018 then further declined to US$133.5 million in 2019. Meanwhile, the U.K. accounted for 92.9% of Russia's total gold exports by value in 2019 at US$5.33 billion, compared to just US$433.4 million in 2018.
(snip)
https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/latest-news-headlines/russian-gold-exports-to-uk-rose-nearly-elevenfold-to-113-5-tonnes-in-2019-57462318
Mr. Johnson is gonna be put on the spot!
(ETA am guessing that might have been done to put some backing to the £ for post-brexit)
(I blame YOU for me finding this!!! 
)
Author: USGI
Date Posted: June 12, 2018 Read time: 6 min
(snip)
Gold is one of the rarest elements in the world, making up roughly 0.003 parts per million of the earth’s crust. But how much gold is the world digging up each year and what countries produce the most?
In 2019, global gold mine production was a reported 3,463.7 tonnes – down one percent from the year prior – and the first year-over-year decline in output since 2008. Gold production has remained relatively steady since 2010, raising the question I’ve explored over the years – have we reached peak gold?
The idea is that all the easy gold has already been discovered and explorers have to dig deeper to find economically viable deposits. For example, South Africa was once the top gold-producing country by far, digging up over 1,000 tonnes in 1970, but annual output has fallen steadily since. On the other hand, several nations have emerged in the last few years as growing gold producers.
As seen in the chart below, China takes the number one spot of global gold producers by a wide margin. The top 10 rankings saw a big shift in 2019 – Russia took the lead over Australia to claim second, Indonesia fell off the list and Brazil joined the ranks as the tenth largest producer. Ghana also jumped ahead of South Africa to become the continent’s top producer.
(snip)
https://www.usfunds.com/resource/top-10-gold-producing-countries/
(above image from here - https://elements.visualcapitalist.com/the-worlds-top-10-gold-mining-companies/)
So this might suggest who won't really "need" Russia's gold.
