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Sudan has denied claims Russian entities have smuggled hundreds of tonnes of illicit gold from its territory. Officials have called the allegations fake news and suggested that Sudan is in fact looking to revive its economy through gold mining.
The Rise in Russiaâs Gold Holdings
The Sudanese Ambassador to Russia Onor Ahmed Onor recently dismissed claims entities from the latter country have smuggled âhundreds of tonnes of illicit goldâ from his countryâs territory for years. In pushing back against the allegations, Onor called the report published by the British Telegraph newspaper âfake newsâ and added the story had been âcreated from the imaginationâ of the storyâs writer.
In its report, the Telegraph newspaper said Russia, which is the worldâs third-largest producer of gold, had overseen the more than 300% growth in the amount of gold held at the countryâs central bank since 2010. The report alleges that most of the gold was sourced from Africa with Sudan being at the center of the smuggling. The gold holdings, according to the report, would be used to shield the Russian currency from the effects of Western sanctions against Moscow.
The report cites an unnamed executive of one of Sudanâs largest gold companies who alleges that the precious metal is smuggled via âsmall planes from military airports dotted across the country to Russia.â
40 Gold Buyers Arrested
Meanwhile, Onorâs rejection of the smuggling claims followed reports that Sudanâs military government is in fact planning to use the countryâs 50-per-tonne-year gold mining industry to avert a possible collapse of the economy. As reported by VOA, the Sudan military governmentâs second in command, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, recently met with gold miners who pledged to deliver the precious metal to the central bank.
The report also said Dagalo, who is also known as Hemeti, had talked about how illegal gold buyers â 40 of whom had been arrested â are not the problem. Instead, the military ruler points a finger at the unknown parties that sell the precious metal to smugglers. He added: âWe will find out.â However, as noted in the report, Hemeti did not give details with respect to the nationalities that had been arrested for illicit gold transactions.
Although the Sudanese government officials have rejected the Russian gold smuggling claims, VOA reported that Hemeti had visited Moscow prior to the start of the hostilities in Ukraine. During the visit, it was reported the military ruler had discussed increasing cooperation between Sudan and Russia.
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