A gram of gold on the stock market last Friday was worth 56.2 euros, i.e. 96% more than in 2013. You would need 147,905 dinars to buy a 20-gram gold bar, which accounts for about 1/4 of total investment gold purchases in Serbia.
50 grams is sold for 364,462 dinars, while 10 grams is sold for 77,142 dinars.
“Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine there has been a great demand for the purchase of gold, both in the world and in Serbia,” says Ljuba Jakic, one of the first investment gold traders in Serbia.
The growth trend started with a dizzying upward trajectory during the pandemic. While the value of the gold market in Serbia in 2020 was about €60 million, last year it rose to about €100 million, and it is estimated that it will now reach €200 million, i.e. between 800 and 1,000% rise in one year.
As the pioneers of this business in Serbia say, the market has been affected first by the pandemic and then by the crisis in Ukraine. Doubts about the value of money, the collapse of energy and inflation have triggered a gold rush around the world. Many people in Serbia are starting to invest in gold, the value of which has not changed. more or less, for centuries, although its price has increased by 12% in one year and up to 100% in the last decade.
Due to the huge demand, there is currently a shortage of gold and the smelters cannot meet the demand for this precious metal. “This should not come as a surprise, because gold has survived over the centuries as a custodian of value in all parts of the world,” says Jakić. “There are strong doubts about currencies, the euro, the dollar and the franc because in times of crisis, wars and inflation their value is falling, unlike gold which has proven to be the best way to preserve capital value. There are more and more people here who have realised that their surplus money is safer invested in gold than in a bank. So far, about 99% of people who buy investment gold in Serbia have been ordinary citizens and 1% companies,” he adds.
According to the Ministry of Trade, which issues licences to gold importers, the last two years have seen significant growth in the number of companies engaged in importing investment gold, as well as in the number of import permit applications.
(Blic, 05.04.2022)
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