A bipartisan group of legislators recently introduced the Stop Russian Government and Oligarchs from Limiting Democracy (GOLD) Act of 2022, which seeks to prevent Russia’s Central Bank from accessing its gold reserves to fund the war in Ukraine.
The legislation was introduced in the House by U.S. Reps. Peter Meijer (R-MI), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Susie Lee (D-NV), Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ), and Joe Wilson (R-SC).
“The existing loophole in current sanctions that allows Russia to liquidate gold reserves enables Putin and his cronies to continue financing their criminal war in Ukraine,” Meijer said. “Our bill closes this loophole, ensuring that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s vile regime finds no way around the United States’ and the international community’s crippling sanctions. We must continue all efforts that guarantee his government feels maximum pain from economic and diplomatic sanctions.”
The legislators maintain that Russia is one of the world’s largest global sovereign gold owners. Gold makes up 20 percent of the country’s total reserves.
The bill would impose secondary sanctions on anyone transacting with or transporting gold from Russia’s Central Bank holdings or selling gold physically or electronically in Russia while also directing the Treasury Department to develop compliance guidelines for U.S. citizens, as a means of ensuring Americans avoid unknowingly investing in or transacting with Russian gold.
“As Ukrainian civilians are fleeing for their lives, we have to make the consequences for Putin’s barbarism as painful as possible for him and his regime, and we need to slam shut every door he could try to use to evade sanctions,” Slotkin said. “This is a bipartisan effort to shut one of those doors and make sure Russia can’t use its gold reserves to fund the atrocities being carried out across Ukraine.”