Selling Gold – Ukraine selling billions of dollars’ worth of gold in order to buy goods!

The amount of gold Ukraine said was sold is about 10x more than the gold that they’ve ever officially owned.

Selling Gold

gold bars

KYIV (Reuters) – Ukraine’s central bank has sold $12.4 billion of gold reserves since the beginning of Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24, the bank’s deputy head said on Sunday.

I think they’ve probably used up most of their family savings already. This is how a people survive when they live in a poor country way out of the city and need to store wealth outside the banking system. Bitcoin would have failed them miserably though, so it’s good they relied on gold.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

In 2021 agriculture was the biggest sector of the economy and Ukraine was the world’s largest wheat exporter. However, Ukraine remains among the poorest countries in Europe, and corruption remains a widespread issue; the country was rated 122nd out of 180 in the Corruption Perceptions Index for 2021, the second-lowest result in Europe after Russia.

In 2021 Ukraine’s GDP per capita by purchasing power parity was just over $14,000. Despite supplying emergency financial support, the IMF expected the economy to shrink considerably in 2022 due to Russia’s invasion. One 2022 estimate was that post-war reconstruction costs might reach half a trillion dollars.

In 2021, the average salary in Ukraine reached its highest level at almost ₴14,300 (US$525) per month. About 1% of Ukrainians lived below the national poverty line in 2019. Unemployment in Ukraine was 4.5% in 2019. In 2019 5–15% of the Ukrainian population were categorized as middle class. In 2020 Ukraine’s government debt was roughly 50% of its nominal GDP.

In 2021 mineral commodities and light industry were important sectors. Ukraine produces nearly all types of transportation vehicles and spacecraft. Antonov airplanes and KrAZ trucks are exported to many countries. The European Union is the country’s main trade partner, and remittances from Ukrainians working abroad are important.