OREANDA-NEWS The plan of a number of G7 countries to ban the import of Russian gold will be rather symbolic and will not lead to price spikes of the precious metal, since the supply of gold from the Russian Federation is already limited by sanctions. This is stated by the analysts whose opinions are quoted by Bloomberg.

The leaders of the UK, US, Japan and Canada intend to announce a ban on gold imports from Russia at the G7 summit, which is taking place June 26-28 in Germany, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Sunday.

In the UK, they believe that the upcoming measures will have a global scope and will close official access of Russian gold to foreign markets. However, the experts note that the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), which sets standards for the gold market, suspended the Good Delivery status for Russian gold producers in early March, and therefore, the consequences of an official ban will be not as severe as expected.

According to Warren Patterson, commodities analyst at ING Groep NV, the impact of the G7 ban on Russian gold imports is likely to be subdued as the industry has already taken action to restrict gold supplies from Russia. Ye thinks that the move appears to be largely symbolic.

Commodity analyst at Commonwealth Bank of Australia Vivek Dhar believes that the ban will be just a formalization of what has already been done under the sanctions. The G7 decision will not lead to a sharp rise in gold prices, he said.

The ban is unlikely to have any major impact on prices as the gold market is currently driven by macroeconomic factors, says an Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd expert David Hynes.

Chief analyst for commodity markets Oanda Corp. Geoffrey Halley does not expect the consequences for gold prices as well. "In reality, this will be just a formalization of informal measures that are already taken, and it is unlikely to tangibly change the prospects for the gold market", he said.