Central Bank chief: Rumors about gold trade with Russia are completely baseless

A few months ago, The Economist magazine published an article claiming that Uzbekistan was involved in buying and selling Russian gold. Regarding this publication, the Chairman of the Central Bank, Temur Ishmetov, gave an explanation today, October 24, during a press conference on the key interest rate.

’’This information is completely far from the truth. We have never purchased gold from other countries and have no intention of doing so. Thankfully, we have sufficient gold reserves of our own. As for the publication you mentioned, if I understood correctly, such information indeed appeared in an article by The Economist a few years ago. We officially contacted them, inquired about the source of that information, and pointed out its inaccuracy. In the following issue, they corrected the errors in that article,’’ Temur Ishmetov said.

He also called the information published by The Economist ’’nonsense.’’

’’That is false. It was a very strange situation, highly unprofessional. I was truly surprised. It is completely detached from reality, absolutely baseless information,’’ the Central Bank chairman emphasized.

In January–September of this year, Uzbekistan exported gold worth $9.9 billion, 70.9% more compared to the same period in 2024. This figure represents a historical record that had not been observed in previous years.