PREVIEW HEADLINE: Russia's Gold Bet and Financing the Budget Deficit GUEST NAME: Michael Bernstam SUMMARY: John Batchelor speaks with Michael Bernstam about how sanctions benefit Russia through its "smart bet on gold." Russia holds significant gold reserv
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.5 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 8 October 2025
⏱️ 1 minutes
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| 0:00.0 | This is John Batchel, a conversation with my colleague Michael Bernstam of the Hoover Institution, |
| 0:06.2 | watching the sanctions on Russia, a positive for Russia, the price of gold. |
| 0:12.2 | Russia likes gold. It's got a lot in the bank of Russia in the basement, got it a lot. |
| 0:17.8 | Moving around the world, it also has access to gold from Africa, Nusierre, for example. |
| 0:24.0 | And Michael says that gold, $4,000 an ounce and higher, is going to help close the deficit gap |
| 0:32.2 | at the end of the year. Michael Bernstam, gold, goldfinger in Moscow. |
| 0:38.5 | More of this tonight. |
| 0:40.1 | Oh, it's excellent for Russia because they made a smart bet on gold. |
| 0:44.0 | They buy a lot of gold from local producers. |
| 0:46.9 | They have a budget deficit which is approaching by the end of the year 3.5%. |
| 0:51.9 | And the only way to finance it is the Ministry of Finance will sell |
| 0:56.1 | gold to domestic buyers. |
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