How sanctions affected Russian flows of precious metals — part 1

In February 2023, Russian aggression against Ukraine continues. However, not everything is going according to Moscow’s original plans. The planned several-day “special operation” has turned into a full-scale war of attrition.

We would like to focus mainly on the issue of precious metals — gold, silver, platinum, and palladium — in the context of flows between Russia and the European continent. With special consideration given to the British OTC market and the Swiss market, as the globally most important for refining and trading gold in physical form. Observing actions that have been ongoing for nearly a year has allowed us to gather a rich research material enabling analysis.

Cold peace 2021

The beginning of 2022 did not portend a greater demand for precious metals, particularly after a rather “dull” 2021 characterized by mostly sideways movements. Gold started 2021 at around 1950 USD, ending the year closer to 1800 USD with movements mostly contained within the range between 1720 and 1820 USD. Silver saw a drop from 27.5 USD to 23.2 USD. Palladium started 2021 at the level of 2370 USD and ended at the horizontal support at 1600 USD. Platinum started 2021 closer to 1100 and ended in the area of 950 USD. For metals, the most important factors driving growth were inflation…