The Russian Central Bank added another 800,000 ounces (25 tonnes) of gold to its reserves in June bringing the total held now to 41 million ounces (1,275 tonnes) comfortably maintaining its position as the worlds sixth largest national holder behind the recently restated Chinese figure of 1,658.4 tonnes (a figure which few seem to believe assuming the real figure, probably comprising gold held in other non-reported accounts, is considerably higher).
Here’s Nick Laird’s colourful illustrative chart of Russian gold reserve growth from www.goldchartsrus.com:
As can be seen, Russia has been building its gold reserves for the past 8 years, with some particularly sharp monthly increases last year and this, despite the U.S. sanctions initiated collapses in the Ruble’s value late last year, although there has been some recovery in the value of the Russian currency since.
Top 10 National Gold Reserves updated
| Rank | Country | Official Gold Reserve (t) |
| 1. | USA | 8,133.5 |
| 2. | Germany | 3,383.4 |
| 3. | Italy | 2,451.8 |
| 4. | France | 2,435.4 |
| 5. | China | 1,658.4 |
| 6. | Russia | 1,275.2 |
| 7. | Switzerland | 1,040.0 |
| 8. | Japan | 765.2 |
| 9. | Netherlands | 612.5 |
| 10. | India | 557.7 |
Source: World Gold council, IMF, Sharelynx.com, lawrieongold