Putin discussed calculations in gold with the head of financial intelligence

The price of gold has reached a historic high, and bullion transactions have more than doubled. Vladimir Putin said this on July 8 at a meeting with the head of Rosfinmonitoring, Yuri Chikhanchin. The head of financial intelligence said that the handling of this precious metal has not been regulated, and the agency is working with the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Russia to amend legislation in this regard. Other topics of his conversation with the president included the use of cryptocurrencies in corruption schemes and the protection of minors from financial fraud.

What was discussed at the meeting

In 2024, Rosfinmonitoring eliminated six shadow sites with a total volume of about 11 billion rubles, said Yuri Chikhanchin. During the year, 1.3 thousand criminal cases of embezzlement of budget funds were initiated in the Russian Federation: thus, over 27 billion rubles were kept untouchable. In addition, it was possible to return to the federal budget over 1 billion, which they tried to withdraw during the implementation of national projects in 2024 - about 350 criminal cases have already been initiated against them. In total, while working on national projects, it was possible to prevent the theft of about 2 billion rubles.

Non—residents have become more likely to participate in financial fraud - their number has increased almost 3.5 times. According to Yuri Chikhanchin, today there are more than 50,000 websites aimed at involving Russian citizens in these shady schemes. This is primarily due to the dramatic increase in the availability of financial services and various technologies. At the same time, minors are actively involved in them. Rosfinmonitoring, together with law enforcement agencies, is launching a special mechanism to combat such crimes.

"These are schoolchildren, and today there are already seven-year-old schoolchildren who get into these operations. They have lunch payment cards, and they are usually linked to their parents' accounts, and criminals are starting to use these services," said the head of financial intelligence.

Vladimir Putin drew attention to the fact that cryptocurrencies have become more common in corrupt settlements. According to Yuri Chikhanchin, this happens through affiliated companies. "We are working together with the Presidential Administration and the Prosecutor General's Office on anti-corruption inquiries, declarations, and so on. In total, we are working on about 400 cases of corruption, and we are actively involved," he said. Chikhanchin added: the amount of damage, which was revealed together with Rosfinmonitoring, is about 13.5 billion rubles, and 5 billion has already been returned to the state.

The head of financial intelligence also drew attention to the unregulated handling of gold. Ingots are used in calculations "more than twice". Today, Rosfinmonitoring is working with the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank on this issue. The head of the service also said that the price of gold is very high today, so the difference between purchase and conversion creates a large profit. "The historical peak [of gold prices]," the Russian leader noted. According to the Central Bank on July 8, the cost of 1 gram of precious metal is 8,432.56 rubles.