Part 11/14:
The stance of international investors further complicates Russia’s financial outlook. Wealthy investors and foreign governments have systematically distanced themselves from Russian assets, refusing to accept rubles or transfer capital into Russian markets. The reluctance of international markets to trade in Russian currency or assets effectively isolates Russia economically and renders its gold and currency reserves more critical yet more vulnerable.
By selling gold to their own government, oligarchs are essentially converting their wealth into a safer store of value—gold—to hedge against this external financial hostility.