Breakingviews - Russia’s gold reserves buy Putin a few options

picked up gold from Venezuela to be refined in Mali and then resold in the United Arab Emirates for dollars and euros.

Russia could also turn to nefarious actors. In 2020, the U.S. State Department said it was following a visit to Venezuela by the private jet of Libyan militia leader Khalifa Haftar, who was suspected of trading gold for dollars. The usually complex schemes can take years to prosecute. U.S. courts are still examining some aspects of an alleged plot that started in 2010 and involved several Turkish entities that helped Iran evade sanctions, including turning gold into cash. The plan involved money servicers, front companies, fake humanitarian food shipments and businesses located in the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Hong Kong.

The Russian rouble has fallen by more than 20% against the dollar this year, while the country is becoming economically isolated from the West. Illiquid gold could be one of Putin’s few remaining economic silver linings.- The U.S. Treasury Department on March 24 issued guidance that states any transaction involving gold related to the Russian central bank is covered by its existing sanctions.

- A senior White House official said Russia has up to $140 billion in gold, making up about 20% of the country’s central bank reserves before its invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.Editing by Peter Thal Larsen and Sharon LamReuters Breakingviews is the world's leading source of agenda-setting financial insight. As the Reuters brand for financial commentary, we dissect the big business and economic stories as they break around the world every day.

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