Venezuela exported gold worth nearly 4.14 billion Swiss francs ($5.2 billion) to Switzerland between 2013 and 2016 during the early years of former president Nicolas Maduro, according to customs data reviewed by Reuters.
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Venezuela transported gold
worth almost 4.14 billion Swiss francs ($5.20 billion) to
Switzerland during the early years of the leadership of ousted
President Nicolas Maduro, customs data shows.
The South American country sent 113 metric tons of the
precious metal to Switzerland from 2013 – when Maduro took
office – to 2016, according to data reviewed by Reuters.
The gold originated from Venezuela’s central bank, Swiss
broadcaster SRF said, at a time when the government was selling
down gold to support its economy.
There were no gold exports from Venezuela to Switzerland
from 2017, when EU sanctions were imposed, to 2025, customs data
showed.
Maduro was seized by U.S. special forces in a raid in
Caracas on January 3, and faces charges in a New York court
including drug trafficking and narco-terrorism.
On Monday, Switzerland ordered the freezing of assets held
in the country by Maduro, and 36 associates, but did not give
any information on possible value or source of such funds.
It is unknown if there is any link between any such assets
and gold transferred from the central bank.
The gold, from Venezuela’s reserves, was likely transferred
to Switzerland for processing, certification and onward
transport, SRF reported.
Switzerland is one of the world’s biggest centres for gold
refining, with the country hosting five large refineries.
The central bank of Venezuela has sold down its gold
reserves to support the country’s economy and raise hard
currency in the face of U.S. sanctions.
“There was big distress selling by the Venezuelan central
bank from 2012 to 2016. A lot of this will have come to
Switzerland,” said Rhona O’Connell, a markets analyst at StoneX.
“Thereafter it could have stayed with counterparties in the
financial sector, or sold as small bars to Asia, or anywhere in
the world.”
The gold exports to Switzerland fell to zero in 2017 when
the European Union sanctioned various Venezuelan individuals
accused of human rights violations or undermining democracy.
Switzerland adopted the EU sanctions in early 2018.
The sanctions did not contain a general Swiss embargo on
gold imports from Venezuela.
“There was probably a major drop-off in exports after
because the Venezuelan central bank simply ran out of gold,”
said StoneX’s O’Connell.
Published on January 7, 2026
