Ukraine central bank has sold over $12 billion of its gold reserves during war – deputy head

KYIV – Ukraine’s central bank has sold $12.4 billion of gold reserves since the beginning of Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24, the bank’s deputy head said on Sunday.

“We are selling (this gold) so that our importers are able to buy necessary goods for the country,” Deputy Governor Kateryna Rozhkova told national television. She said the gold was not being sold to shore up Ukraine’s hryvnia currency.

(Reporting by Max Hunder; editing by Tom Balmforth and Gareth Jones)