The Central Bank and the Romanian Treasure in Moscow

The National Bank of Romania launches and international lobby for the return of the Romanian treasure confiscated by Moscow during the First World War

Mihai Pelin, 21.11.2023, 13:50

The National Bank of
Romania (BNR) will launch several events meant to reaffirm that Romania has a
fully valid right of claim from a historical and legal point of view over the
Romanian treasure sent for safe-keeping to Moscow. The project starts from the
observation that abroad, even among the European decision-makers, the issue of
the Romanian treasure is largely
unknown, therefore, a first step will be to inform the members of the European
Parliament and bring this topic to the attention of the international community.
The Central Bank has consistently implemented, since 1991, a strategy regarding
the presentation to the domestic and foreign public opinion of the issue of the
treasure sent to Moscow during the First World War and then seized by the
Soviet Union, stated the governor of the BNR, Mugur Isărescu, at a seminar on
this topic organized, recently, at the headquarters of the Central Bank. He
added that, this year, when it is 107 years since the evacuation of Romania’s
treasure to Moscow, the BNR proposes to relaunch the process of
internationalization of issues related to this theme.

Mugur Isarescu: The treasure of the National Bank of
Romania, the gold treasure sent to Moscow for safe-keeping, therefore deposited
in an allied country, accompanied by the necessary documents and under an
international agreement recognized and validated by history, remains the only
case in which the gold treasure of a country is entrusted with proper documents
and the depository’s guarantees that it will be returned at
any time, at the request of the owner, in which
subsequently these assumed obligations, according to all international
norms and customs, are not observed.

The Central Bank Governor has
stressed that the National Bank of Romania has continuously taken actions towards
the recovery of the treasure, which culminated in the recognition, within the
joint Romanian-Russian commission dedicated to discussing this topic, of the
fact that the documents presented by the Romanian side represent authentic
documents, with the value of an international treaty, which certifies the
deposit by Romania in Russia, in Moscow, of the assets of its treasury,
including that of the BNR. The Central Bank has a file, since 1922, containing
all the original documents related to the evacuation of the Romanian treasury,
a file handed over time from one governor to another, including during the
communist period. During the First World War, due to the difficult situation at
the front, the BNR took measures to keep its treasure safe.

According to official
documents, in total, in December 1916 and July 1917, the BNR deposited in
Moscow 91.48 tons of fine gold, as well as Queen Marie’s jewels. In October
1917, the Bolsheviks led by V. I. Lenin seized power and, in January 1918, the
Council of People’s Commissars announced the severance of diplomatic relations
with Romania, the arrest of the Romanian minister in Petrograd and the confiscation
of Romania’s treasure deposited in Moscow. The current reserve of the Central
Bank is only slightly larger than the Romanian gold in Moscow, namely 103.6
tons, at an estimated value of 5.6 billion euros. (MI)