Every fifth gram of gold in Russia is illegal: expert Vyazovsky named the reasons

As the Ministry of Finance admits, the counterfeit market of precious metals, primarily gold, is growing and expanding in Russia. There are no official statistics, but according to experts, today its volume reaches 20% of the legal one. Considering that in 2024 individuals and legal entities purchased 34.4 tons of gold, we are talking about approximately 6.5-7 illegal tons. Against this background, the state intends to tighten control over the turnover of investment coins at the legislative level. However, there are a number of circumstances that greatly complicate the solution of the problem.

Gold rush

In recent years, gold has become a very popular protective asset not only among professional financiers, but also among ordinary people. People have "got a taste" for buying investment coins and gold bars in order to preserve and increase their savings. Along with the growth in demand for precious metals, problems with illegal turnover and the shadow gold market have also grown. The Ministry of Finance has developed a draft resolution aimed at combating shadow transactions and ensuring transparency in the turnover of investment coins, which are often used to form transit chains with subsequent cashing of money. According to the document, banks are required to collect personal data of clients in any transactions (including transfer as collateral and for safekeeping); information on the purchase and sale of assets, on the balance of coins, on the introduction and withdrawal from circulation. And then - upload this information to the State Information System for the Accounting of Precious Metals, Precious Stones and Products Made of Them (GIIS DMDK).

In addition, banks, pawnshops and dealers must carry out sales with the mandatory use of cash register equipment (CRE) integrated with the GIIS DMDK module. Currently, CRE is used selectively.

The high interest of businesses and the population in investing in bars and coins is largely due to the abolition of VAT on the purchase of gold by individuals in 2022. According to the World Gold Council (WGC), over the past three years, Russians have increased the volume of such purchases almost sevenfold, and in 2024 they purchased 34.4 tons of the precious metal, which is 9% higher than the 2023 figure. As a result, the Russian Federation rose from tenth to eighth place in the ranking of countries with the highest domestic demand for gold. The top three are China (346 tons), India (239) and Turkey (112), followed by the United States (78 tons), Iran (43), Vietnam (42) and Thailand (40 tons).

At the same time (as stated in the explanatory documents to the Ministry of Finance's draft), the share of counterfeit products on the domestic market is growing, which undermines consumer confidence in bona fide suppliers and has a negative impact on the economy. Back in 2023, the Central Bank identified operations to use coins made of precious metals for money laundering. The scheme consisted of transferring funds to a fictitious company, which then bought the coins and handed them over to the bank for cash.

Criminal Binding

- In Russia, all official transactions on precious metals concern either bars or coins, - Alexey Vyazovsky, Vice President of the Zolotaya Plata company, told MK. - They are regulated by the Federal Law "On Precious Metals and Precious Stones", which was recently amended. Thus, from March 1, all market participants are required to enter data on transactions into the GIIS DMDK system. Previously, this happened in test mode, and now - without options. But the problem is that the system is not "finished", primarily on the part of the mints and their main operator - Goznak. The main bottleneck is the lack of numbers on individual coins (unlike bars), accordingly, it is impossible to link a specific coin (say, "St. George the Victorious" or "The Sower") to a specific buyer. We number and thus take into account the batch, but not the individual coin.

In principle, it would be possible to allow banks and dealers to issue the corresponding certificates (without re-minting old lots) and attach them to the sales contract. By the way, the 2025 St. George the Victorious coin already comes with a certificate. But these coins are not numbered either, the certificates only indicate the weight and fineness, the signature and seal of the treasurer, and that's it. This means that there is still room for fraud.

- Who is the main supplier of illegal gold to the market?

- Black prospectors. There are plenty of them in the Far East, in the Khabarovsk Territory, in the Magadan Region, where a lot of gold ore is mined. Not a day goes by without someone being caught with an illegally cast ingot, someone not being convicted under Article 191 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which provides for a prison term for the illegal circulation of precious metals and gemstones. Let's say a daring person washed a lot of gold from gold-bearing sand, and now what to do with it? You can't take it anywhere. But since gold is a low-melting metal, you can get an ingot at home and even put fake numbers on it. Moreover, especially advanced craftsmen have learned to make a-la "Nikolaev gold chervonets", using the corresponding stamps they created themselves. Counterfeiting such a rarity does not carry a serious risk, unlike counterfeiting Soviet and Russian gold coins: in the Criminal Code, this practice is classified as counterfeiting and is punishable very severely. “Nikolaev chervonets” are brought to Moscow and St. Petersburg and sold in batches for cash.

All these schemes are not under state control, increasing the overall crime rate and undermining the budget's tax base. In order to mine gold legally, a person must obtain a license, meet all requirements, pay prospector fees...

- What distribution channels do suppliers of counterfeit gold use?

- For example, the largest marketplaces. You can go to any of them, type in the search bar the words "buy gold coins", and you will get thousands of offers. There is no law that requires trade aggregators to require a license for operations with precious metals from those who place an ad for sale. Meanwhile, to become a certified dealer company and legally conduct business, you need to register with the Federal Assay Office, in the State Information System of the DMDK. And here - do whatever you want: a real black hole. I will tell you more: "St. George the Victorious" of unknown origin and quality are put up on marketplaces by Chinese sellers.

- How can ordinary consumers protect themselves from this chaos and avoid being deceived?

- There is only one piece of advice: you should deal only with trusted companies and banks, selling and buying gold in the same place. Not only can you be cruelly cheated and given a fake, you risk getting into serious criminal trouble and ultimately losing all your money, property, health, and even life. Drugs, terrorist financing, black cash, smuggling of capital - where is the line separating the shadow turnover of the "yellow metal" from these areas? Let me remind you that in January 2024, gold smuggling worth 111 million rubles was stopped at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport. In the hand luggage of a man who was trying to leave Russia, 25 bars with a total weight of more than 36 kilograms were found.