An average of 30-35 kg of investment gold is traded in Bulgaria on a monthly basis, according to an analysis of the precious metals market in the country.

Licensed traders of investment gold in Bulgaria are10 commercial banks, 2 private companies and the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB), according to the report published by Standard daily.

The statistics only cover the of investment gold market without including sales of goldsmith studios and other golf retailers that do not operate with investment instruments.

There are three major players on the local, among which Tavex EOOD, which controls a share of 40%, First Investment Bank (FIB) with 30%, and Raiffeisenbank with 20%.

The other players, including Investbank, International Asset Bank, Corporate Commercial Bank, United Bulgarian Bank, Piraeus Bank, CIBank, Central Cooperative Bank, and Alianz Bank, have a total share of 10% of all direct sales of investment gold in the country.

Apart from Tavex, there is one other private company in Bulgaria trading investment gold, Global Coins and Medals, which mainly supplies gold to banks and a number of VIP customers.

According to experts in the sphere, events such as the global crisis, a war, or bank holidays like Christmas, directly affect the market of investment gold in Bulgaria, with sales jumping by 42-45 kg of gold per month.

The buy-back of investment gold by traders totals around 10-15 kg per month and the premium for the trader is 1 5-18%.

Investment gold is becoming increasingly popular in Bulgaria as an instrument for countering the effects of inflation and the growing insecurity in the financial system.