Serbia Zijin Copper sold 5.74 tons of gold to the National Bank of Serbia in three and a half years
Gold remains in Serbia
The entire amount of gold produced, according to Serbian laws, must first be offered to the National Bank of Serbia, and only in the event that it refuses to buy it at the stock market price, which has not happened so far, could Serbia Zijin Copper ask for an export permit. – In six months of this year, as many as 852 kilograms of gold were produced, sold and delivered to the NBS
SZC. – Serbia Zijin Copper has sold five tons and 742 kilograms of gold to the National Bank of Serbia in three and a half years! That much yellow metal, namely, has been produced in the only factory for gold production in Serbia, which has been operating as part of Serbia Zijin Copper since December 18, 2018, when the Chinese Zijin concluded a strategic partnership contract with Serbia and took over 63 percent of the ownership of the former RTB Bor.
The entire amount of gold produced, according to Serbian laws, must first be offered to the National Bank of Serbia, and only in the event that it refuses to buy it at the stock market price could Serbia Zijin Copper ask for an export permit. This has not happened so far, which means that the gold produced by this company remains in Serbia.
According to the latest data from the World Gold Council, with 38.1 tons of gold bars, Serbia is the leading country in the region in terms of the amount of that precious metal deposited in the vaults of the National Bank of Serbia. Few, however, know that almost all of the “yellow treasure”, in terms of which our country is ranked the 54th in the world, was produced by Serbia Zijin Copper. For the sake of illustration, as many as 852 kilograms of gold were produced, sold and delivered to the National Bank in just six months of this year!
In the last six years, Serbia has significantly increased its gold reserves and risen by eight places on the list of the World Gold Council. In 2016, there were 17.9 tons of gold in the vaults of the National Bank of Serbia, and Serbia ranked the 62nd in the world. Even then it was the leader in the region in terms of the amount of gold, while nowadays that supremacy is much more compelling. In second place in the Balkans is North Macedonia with 6.9 tons of gold reserves, Slovenia with 3.2 tons and Bosnia and Herzegovina with three tons of gold. In last place is Montenegro with 1.09 tons, while Croatia is not on the list of one hundred ranked countries.
Although gold has been produced in Bor since the establishment of the mine in 1903, official statistics on the amount of yellow metal produced have been kept since 1938. From then until December 2018, around 160 tons of gold were produced in the former RTB Bor.
Before 1938, records of gold production had been kept by the French because they had had ownership over the mine. At that time, the French company freely utilized precious metals, but there are data that by 1935, 16 tons of gold were exported from the Bor mine. The situation was changed only in 1934 with the Decree on the Supervision of the Production and Use of Precious Metals, thanks to which the National Bank of Yugoslavia was given the right to purchase at prices on the London Stock Exchange.
A kilogram of gold was worth $58,119.62 on July 4, while $1,807 was paid for a fine ounce (31 grams) on the London Stock Exchange.
According to economic experts and banking analysts, gold is the best and safest investment, especially in turbulent and cash-strapped times in the whole world due to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
