Russian Central Bank Gold Reserves Rise to 1928.416 Tons in May.
Russian gold reserves are the fifth largest in the world.
Russia added 600,000 ounces of gold (18.6620861 tons) to reserves in May.
Russia added a record 224 tons of gold to reserves in 2017.
Since June 2015, the Central Bank of Russia has added over 646 tons of gold to reserves.
Overall Russian reserves fell from $459.883 billion in April to $456.640 in May.
Russian holdings of U.S. Treasuries were at $48.1 in April 2018.
Gold reserves worth $80.511 billion constitute 17.63% of overall Russian reserves.
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Russian Gold Reserves Swell as U.S. Treasury Holdings Shrink
The value of the Central Bank of Russia’s gold reserves exceeded the value of their U.S. Treasury holdings for the first time in April. The U.S. Treasury department revealed that Russia’s holdings of U.S. Treasuries fell from $96.1 billion in March 2018 to 48.7 billion in April 2018. According to the Central bank of Russia, their gold reserves were worth $81.1 billion in April 2018 up from $80.5 billion in March 2018.
Today, the Central Bank of Russia revealed that their gold reserves increased by another 600,000 ounces of 18.666 tons in May bringing their gold reserves to 1928.461 tons worth $80.511 as of the end of May 2018. Despite the increase in gold tonnage the value of the Central Bank of Russia’s gold reserves fell to $80.511 billion in May down from $81.1 billion at the end of April.
Russia does little trade with the United States and has been subject to a series of U.S. inspired sanctions for the past few years. As a result, while Russia had been working on increasing its overall foreign reserves in recent years, it focused more on adding gold than U.S. Treasuries.
The drop in April of $47.4 billion in U.S. Treasuries from March was the largest shedding of U.S. Treasuries by the Central Bank of Russia since September 2016 when it shed $11 billion in U.S. Treasuries taking its then total down to $74.6 billion. Since October, 2016, however, Russia began rebuilding its U.S. Treasury holdings which peaked at $108.7 billion in May 2017.
Russian Gold Reserves vs. U.S. Treasury Holdings
Russian US Treasury and gold reserves source: U.S. Treasury TIC report and Russian Central Bank, respectively.
After adding 6,700,000 ounces (208 tonnes) of gold to her reserves in 2015, the Russian Central Bank added 6,400,000 ounces (199 tonnes) in 2016 and another 224 tons (7,202,000 ounces) in 2017.
The Central Bank of Russia ended 2016 with 1838.21 tonnes of gold on their balance sheet.
Central Bank of Russia added 7.2 Million ounces (approximately 223.945 tonnes) in 2017.
Through May 2018, the Central Bank of Russia has added 2.9 million ounces or approximately 90.2 tons of gold.
The chart below shows the Central Bank of Russia’s Gold Reserves by month with tonnage rounded to the nearest metric ton.

The Central bank of Russia has added about 647 tons of gold to her reserves from June 2015 – to May 2018.
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Since 2009, Russia has added over 1,100 tons of gold to its reserves more than China who added about 775 tons during the same time period.
Russian Monthly Gold Purchases June 2014 – May 2018

Russia has added 27.3 million ounces (approximately 849 tons) to its reserves from June 2014 through May 2018.
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Russia Adding Gold To Reserves At A Faster Pace Than China
From March 2016 to May 2017 China added 45 tonnes of gold to its reserves, while Russia added 246 tonnes, or 447% more.
The People’s Bank of China’s gold reserves as of September 2017 are at the same level as of October 2016. The Central Bank of Russia added 7.6 million ounces (236.39 tons) of gold from October 2016 to September 2017.

Russia has added about 122 more tonnes of gold to its reserves than China from November 2015 – November 2016.
Roubles For Gold
Increasingly, Russia has been buying up more of their gold mining production, in effect converting roubles into gold.
The Russian Central Bank announced that it would begin buying gold on the Moscow Stock Exchange.

Russia is retaining an increasing percentage of its gold mining output.
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Russia has the fifth largest gold reserves of any nation.
Overall Russian Reserves
The reserves of the Central Bank of Russian have grown over $89 billion or about 24% since January 2016.
Gold represented about $80.511 billion of Russia’s overall reserves at the end of May 2018, or about 17.6%.
Russian U.S. Treasury Holdings
Russia’s U.S. Treasury Bond Holdings 2014 – 2018
As of April 2018, Russia held $48.7 billion in U.S. Treasury Bonds down from $131.8 billion in January 2014.
Further reading on Russia’s gold production:
Russia’s VTB bank to supply 15-20 T of gold to China in next 12 months Russia to increase gold production
Russian gold and reserve data from the Central Bank of the Federation of Russia
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