Follow the Gold: How Putin finances his Wars! | FD Finance

Finance-Focused Summary

The documentary examines how gold may help Russia and other sanctioned actors preserve access to money, while tracing the gold trade linking Russia, the UAE, and African mining regions. It argues that Dubai’s role as a major gold-trading and refining hub, combined with weak origin checks and opaque corporate structures, can make gold useful for moving wealth around sanctions and laundering illicit proceeds.

These are documentary claims and allegations. The subtitles also note denials and cases where allegations were dropped.

Key Financial Figures and Timelines

• Western governments reportedly froze more than $350 billion in Russian government assets after the invasion of Ukraine.
• According to the documentary, Russia faced nearly 3,000 new sanctions in the first two weeks after the invasion.
• Russia accumulated gold reserves before the war as part of its “Fortress Russia” strategy. The documentary estimates that gold accounted for about 20% of central-bank reserves, worth roughly $140 billion.
• The UAE is described as handling about two-fifths of global gold trade. The documentary says gold refined to above roughly 98% purity is very difficult to trace to its original source. “Four nines” gold is 99.99% pure.
• In a Venezuela example, a shipment of nearly 16 tonnes of gold was reportedly sold in December 2018, after US sanctions were announced. Investigative reporting cited in the film said Girtz Gold bought 30% of Venezuela’s international gold sales in 2019.
• A Belgian court judgment, as reported by Reuters, was said to involve more than $1 billion in cash transactions over two years in a money-laundering and fraud case involving Alan and Sven Girtz. Alan Girtz disputed the ruling and said his practices were common and legal at the time.
• The film estimates that $300–600 million of gold is smuggled from eastern DRC annually, and says more than 90% of DRC gold is smuggled out or routed through other African countries.
• A Sudanese mine associated with Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemeti) was said to produce as much as $500 million annually. The documentary also says roughly one-third of Sudan’s population needs humanitarian aid.
• Russia’s military-equipment and training deal with Sudan was estimated at about $1 billion. A Dubai-based venture involving Emerald Resources reportedly paid $11 million to Sudan in connection with Kush’s return to business.
• A 2020 draft plan for an Abu Dhabi gold refinery predates Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The proposed refinery was never built.

Financial Mechanisms and Strategy Described

• Gold as a sanctions workaround: Central-bank gold can provide an alternative to foreign-currency reserves and international financial channels. The film presents Russia’s pre-war gold accumulation as part of a broader effort to reduce vulnerability to sanctions.
• Gold laundering pathway: Cash is used to buy gold, which is then sold through intermediaries or front companies into the legitimate supply chain. Refining and high purity can obscure the gold’s origin.
• Smuggling and conversion: Gold is moved from African mining areas—sometimes through intermediaries and air routes—to hubs such as Dubai, then sold for foreign exchange. The film describes some shipments as legal and others as illicit.
• Corporate opacity: Shell companies, subsidiaries, and third-country entities can obscure beneficial ownership and create distance between commercial operations and political or state-linked actors.
• Gold-for-access arrangements: In Sudan, the documentary says Russian-linked companies received mining rights and Wagner-associated interests were compensated through natural-resource rights rather than straightforward service payments.
• Trade and logistics networks: DP World and other commercial networks are discussed as routes for expanding UAE business and influence, including access to ports and infrastructure.
• Proposed refinery and commercial relationships: The 2020 refinery plan reportedly linked an Abu Dhabi royal, gold trader Alan Girtz, and Belarusian businessman Alexander Zingman. The plan did not proceed.

Assets, Sectors, and Entities Mentioned

• Assets and instruments: Gold, central-bank gold reserves, foreign exchange, bank accounts, real estate, cash, and Russian arms and wheat exports.
• Sectors: Gold mining and refining, commodities trading, banking, real estate, ports and logistics, arms, and agricultural trade.
• Companies and entities: PGR Gold Trading LLC; Girtz Gold; African Gold Refinery (AGR); M Invest; Kush; Emerald Resources; GBP Global Resources; DP World; Royal Group; Pearl Holdings; and Wadi Industrial Investment.
• Places and supply routes: The UAE, especially Dubai and Abu Dhabi; Mali, Guinea, Ivory Coast, the DRC, Sudan, Uganda, Turkey, and the Central African Republic.

Risks, Cautions, and Disclosures

The film highlights risks including sanctions exposure, money-laundering allegations, opaque ownership, conflict financing, lost tax and royalty revenue, and human-rights abuses in artisanal mining. It describes child trafficking and dangerous mining conditions as consequences of the supply chain and demand for gold. It also notes that UAE import checks described in the documentary focus on weight, purity, and buyer identity, with limited documentation about a shipment’s origin.

There are no stock or ETF recommendations, portfolio allocations, valuation analysis, or investment-performance metrics. The video does not include an explicit “not financial advice” disclaimer.

Presenters and Sources

The documentary’s narrator and most interviewees are not identified by name in the subtitles. The named investigative journalist is Patty Dowling. Other people discussed include Vladimir Putin, Mansour bin Zayed, Tahnoun bin Zayed, Alan and Sven Girtz, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Omar al-Bashir, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemeti), Boris Ivanov, and Alexander Zingman.

Sources and institutions cited include Reuters, the US Treasury, the United Nations, the US government, a Belgian court judgment, Sudan’s SMRC mining company, and the National Bank.