The Ministry of Finance will tighten control over the turnover of precious metals coins

The authorities plan to strengthen control over the turnover of investment coins made of precious metals. The relevant draft resolution was prepared by the Ministry of Finance, which was reviewed by Izvestia.

The stock is solid: Russia's reserves in gold have reached a record $249 billion.

Why is it one of the most reliable assets for the country now and will the metal become more expensive?

Banks will now be required to collect personal customer data and transfer it to the State Information System for Accounting for Precious Metals, Precious Stones and Products Made from Them (GIIS DMDK). It will need to include not only data on the purchase and sale of assets, but also information on the conclusion of other transactions related to turnover, said Ruslan Kuleshov, CEO of the Clean Environment law firm.

For example, if a coin is transferred as a pledge, as a contribution, or for safekeeping, then now such an operation will also be transparent and reflected in the DMDK GIA, he said.

Also, all sales will have to be carried out with the mandatory use of cash register equipment (KKT) integrated with the DMDK GIS module. In addition, banks will be required to provide the state system with information about the remaining coins, their turnover, and their entry or withdrawal from circulation.

In 2024, Russians bought 34.4 tons of gold. There are no official statistics on the volume of the illegal market, but now it is about 20% of the legal market, experts interviewed by Izvestia estimated. That is, it is equal to about 6.5–7 tons of precious metals per year, said Vyacheslav Mishchenko, an expert at the Presidential Academy. This includes both illegally mined gold and transactions that go "past the cash register", they are used to preserve anonymity.

Read more in the exclusive Izvestia article:

Protect the asset: the volume of the illegal gold market in the Russian Federation was estimated at 20%