Romania backs proposal to retrieve gold

The Senate of Romania has adopted a bill adopted to keep the national gold reserves almost entirely at home. This brings the repatriation of around 55 tonnes of gold from the United Kingdom another step closer. If the proposal is passed into law, the central bank will have to keep at least 95% of the gold reserves in its own country. At the time of writing, 65% of the total gold reserve of 103.7 tonnes is stored abroad.

The bill was passed a month ago Submitted by Senator Şerban Nicolae and by Liviu Dragnea, leader of the Social Democratic Party. They believe that there are no longer any good reasons to keep the gold reserves abroad. Especially if the storage costs for the precious metal are higher than the return. Proponents did not think it was necessary to keep the precious metal at the Bank of England any longer, while opponents objected to the cost of transport. The gold reserve represents at the current Gold price a market value of almost €4 billion.

More countries are recovering gold reserves

Almost 60% of Romania's gold reserves are currently stored at the Bank of England. Many countries store part of their gold reserves in London, as it has traditionally been seen as a safe and reliable storage partner. But due to the changes in the geopolitical landscape, Romania now wants to bring the gold closer to home. In doing so, it follows the example of other European countries, which have also withdrawn stocks from abroad in recent years.

In 2014, the Netherlands recovered about 120 tonnes of gold from New York, while Germany recovered 300 tonnes of gold from New York and 374 tonnes from Paris over a four-year period repatriated. Last year, Hungary withdrew its 3.1-tonne gold reserves from London. After that, she decided to buy more gold and increase the stock tenfold to 31.5 tons.

In 2012, Venezuela withdrew 160 tons of gold from the Bank of England at the behest of then-President Hugo Chavez. At the beginning of this year, the government tried to recover another 14 tons of gold, but failed. The Bank of England refused to release the precious metal, probably at the request of the United States. This may have been a reason for Şerban Nicolae and Liviu Dragnea to submit the bill.