Friday, 23rd April 2004 (3273 views)

The Russian Foreign Ministry has announced that it wants to start talks with Japan to reclaim $80 billion worth of gold.

The gold, belonging to the last Czar, ended up in a Tokyo bank during the Russian Civil War, after it was shipped to Japan by one of the White Army commanders, Admiral Alexander Kolchak.

The gold remains a stumbling block on the road to repairing relations between Moscow and Tokyo and Russia is reported to have recently made "certain investigations and inquiries to the Japanese side", according to the Russian Interfax news agency.

Tokyo and Moscow have yet to sign a peace treaty formally ending their World War Two conflict. Interfax reports that the bullion is now held at Japan's Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi, but diplomatic sources claim a lack of evidence is preventing Russia from turning it into a big diplomatic issue.

The documents which testify that Admiral Kolchak sent at least 22 boxes filled with gold ingots to Japan for storage were revealed by Russia in 1994. Researcher Vladlen Sirotkin, claimed in 2000 that the gold was given to Japan in exchange for weapons, but the White Army commander received nothing in return.

Mr Sirotkin estimated that, taking into account the interest for the time that the gold has been in Japan, it would now be worth $80 billion, almost as much as Russia's total gold and foreign currency reserves and enough to pay off two thirds of Russia's foreign debt.

 

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