The thing is that Russian refineries were focused mainly on bulk purchases of large bars and were unable to quickly adapt to changing market demand, while small gold bars are more in demand by private investors. Experts say small bars are more expensive to produce. Evgeny Safonov from Promsvyazbank confirmed that the production of one ingot weighing 12 kg. cheaper than producing several small gold bars.
In March of this year, the Russian government removed the 20% VAT on the purchase of gold bars by individuals, so investors rushed to keep their funds in gold after the imposition of Western sanctions. In June, the 13% income tax on income from the sale of gold bars was also abolished. Since then, the demand for gold in Russia has increased dramatically.