Perhaps, every person will be interested in the answer to the question of where the gold reserves of Russia are stored. This is due to the fact that the country's foreign exchange reserves are the largest in the world. Initially, the formation of the reserve was due to the need to physically confirm the country's solvency when building international economic relations. The high cost of gold makes it possible to keep the economies of countries stable. It is the stock in times of international crisis that supports the banking sector by providing bank guarantees to depositors. The gold reserves of countries have always been classified as major strategic reserves in case of any unforeseen situations and circumstances.
Gold as a guarantor of economic stability
Gold can be safely called a kind of guarantee that the country's economy will not collapse. Take, for example, Russia. It is reserves that allow it not only to stay afloat, but also to strive for development. In the absence of a gold reserve, the country's economy would not be able to survive the sharp decline in oil prices and severe sanctions from the West. The value of the currency forms a reserve, it acts as the basis of the economy. The world status of the state directly depends on how much he managed to accumulate precious metal. Any issued denomination, although in a small amount, should be supported by gold, which will eliminate the high risks of devaluation in the future. Today, the situation has changed a bit, and national currencies are mostly provided by the American dollar, the circulation of which is provided by gold only 1%.
The role of gold is unchanged
Gold is not just one of the most liquid precious metals in the world. All modern economic policy is based on the reserve of metal, guided by the need to purchase foreign currency. Precious capital acts as a guarantee collateral both in obtaining loans and in transferring expensive goods to foreign countries. Over the many centuries of the existence of the modern economic structure, the role of gold has not changed. Metal, as before, protects countries from collapse and allows providing assistance to partner countries in the event of a sharp economic decline. Everyone knows that Russia has the largest gold and foreign exchange fund, but in the question of where the gold reserves of Russia are stored, we will try to make out below.
Where did the government place its savings?
It is well known that the location of the "guarantor" of the Russian state has never been hidden from anyone. Almost anyone interested in the economy can easily answer the question of where the gold reserves of Russia are stored. According to publicly available information, about 60% of the total reserve is located in the Central Bank of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, which is located in Moscow on Pravda Street. The area of the room is 17 square meters. As for the space allocated exclusively for stockpiling, it is one and a half thousand square meters. The storage was built in 1940. The construction of an important state facility was led by the Office of the State Bank of the USSR. Considering the question of where the gold reserves of Russia are stored, I would like to say that the storehouse in Moscow is not the only location of the reserve. Branches work in St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg. The general structure of the vaults is highly ramified and distributed throughout the country in order to ensure state liquidity. In total, there are at least 600 settlement centers, each of which has its own repositories.
Specificity of storage of gold and foreign exchange reserves
The gold reserves of Russia, the dynamics of which have remained positive for many decades, are usually stored in gold bullion, each weighing 10 kilograms. The metal has 999 samples. Within the framework of the reserve, measured ingots are also common, the weight of which varies from 100 grams to one kilogram. At least 6 thousand boxes of metal are located on the territory of the Central repository. In addition to precious material, it is customary to save foreign exchange reserves in the territory of the storehouse. The property is stored in wooden and plastic boxes (with banknotes inclusive). With a certain periodicity, the vault employees replace old banknotes with new ones.
Storage facilities: professional protection
Studying the question of where Russia keeps the gold reserves, it is worth noting that the government of the state chose not only convenient, but also the safest place in the country for the "metal" state support. The central repository has an amazing security system at several levels that protect the country's liabilities from all kinds of influences. In each of the rooms the most innovative and professional instruments for monitoring the situation work. There is equipment for tracking and detecting minimal changes in the situation, which, when a threat occurs, activates in a matter of minutes, simultaneously connects auxiliary security systems.
No access, only one exception.
Unauthorized access to the most protected premises of the state is simply excluded. As for physical or mechanical penetration, it is completely impossible. The only exception in world practice is penetration into the repository of England, however, the attackers had to use an excavator. It is on the basis of this unusual incident that the government does not consider it necessary to hide where Russia’s gold reserves are located. Information about the location of the repository, supplemented by photographs, is systematically published in almost all media.
Rumors or truth?
It is quite clear that it is more rational to store the gold and foreign exchange reserves of Russia precisely on the territory of the state and it is problematic to argue with this. At the same time, sometimes unconfirmed statements appear in the press that a sufficiently large part of the metal guarantor (platinum, gold stock in the form of ingots and currency) is stored in America. This practice is common, because such large world states as England and Germany, Holland and France, China and some European countries have entrusted their most valuable liabilities to the USA. Preliminary information says that they are located in strictly classified storage facilities at US strategic sites. Rumors that have been popular in the past few years can already be safely refuted today in connection with the economic situation and far from the best and tense relations between Russia and America.
A bit of history: the functions of the gold and foreign exchange reserve
The main role of the gold reserve has always been one - it is the provision of international payments on which the world economy is built. Savings have always been considered untouchable as a result of the internal handling of precious metals. The gold reserve of the countries also acted as a kind of reinsurance, which made it possible, if the budget was exhausted, to fulfill all obligations to investors. Even at the origins of the last century, the gold reserve was treated as half of the precious metal, which plays the role of “hard currency”. All other assets were private property. As the value of the metal grows, the ingots in storage have become a full-fledged guarantee of economic stability. This tendency manifested itself especially clearly during the periods of the Great Depression, which took place in the 1930s. At that time, each banknote was provided, depending on the state, with either several milligrams or several grams of gold. Gold reserves (coins, bullion) avoided serious inflation.
The role of the gold reserve today
The gold reserve in the modern world has slightly changed its purpose, but the number of tasks for which it is necessary has not changed:
- States practice using their reserves to acquire foreign currency in the event that an urgent need arises.
- The reserve can play the role of collateral property, which is transferred to the state upon receipt of a loan or upon purchase of goods that are currently relevant for the country.
- Metal lays the foundations of the economy of each country.
And if you look at the situation globally? The world gold reserve both supported the economy of each of the countries of the world earlier, and supports it today. It is he who helps to avoid default during times of acute economic crisis. This trend makes the process of replenishment of reserves by state governments more than relevant even in the 21st century.
What do they say about Russia's reserves?
In Russia, the precious metal reserve is stored in the Bank of Russia and in the reserves of the Ministry of Finance. According to 2011 data, the budget was 793.3 tons. In terms of precious metals, the country got the eighth place in the world. America has been in the first place for decades. This was directly related to the ban on the storage of gold at home in the 90s. It was then that all US residents voluntarily surrendered to the state all their savings. According to representatives of the government, in the future, the size of the domestic fund should increase by one hundred tons annually. In fact, an increase in the country's capital has been recorded since 2008. Today, about 7% of Russia's total gold reserve is saved in the gold and foreign exchange reserve. The voiced data are far from reality, and figures known to the public can radically differ from the present state of affairs. The bottom line is that the state’s gold reserve reserve with statistics on its replenishment is a state secret.
