Russia Sells Ukraine's Luhansk Gold Deposits to Undisclosed Buyers for Fraction of Value

A Reuters investigation found that Russia auctioned the Bobrikivske gold deposit in occupied Luhansk for $9.7 million to Alchevskpromhrup, a firm controlled by Russian mining company Polyanka — a fraction of the deposit's estimated $260 million value based on approximately 1.64 tons of gold reserves. The deposit was previously operated by Australian firm Korab Resources, which lost access when Russian-backed forces seized the territory in 2014; satellite imagery now shows renewed equipment activity at the site. However, Ukrainian officials and separate reporting cast doubt on the deposit's commercial viability: Luhansk Regional Military Administration head Oleksii Kharchenko has characterized the gold mining revival as a scheme to distract from the collapse of the occupied coal industry and months of unpaid miner wages, noting the area's primary gold reserves were exhausted in the 19th century. The sale is part of a broader pattern of Russian state auctions of Ukrainian mines, quarries, and agricultural land in occupied territory, which Moscow is integrating into the Russian economy under an estimated $11.8 billion investment program through 2026.