Belgium Reportedly Plans to Retrieve 200 Tons of Gold From UK Storages

Belgium is planning to retrieve 200 metric tons of gold, deposited to United Kingdom storage in the 1930s, out of fear of Nazi theft.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Belgium is planning to retrieve 200 metric tons of gold, deposited to United Kingdom storage in the 1930s, Belgian public broadcasting organization RTBF said Wednesday.

The date of the retrieval operation is kept secret for security reasons, according to RTBF. A ship with 50 soldiers and a helicopter will escort the ingots to Belgium.

The gold, estimated at $7 billion, is stored at a depth of over 65 feet in a repository with 3-feet thick walls. The password-protected storage can be opened only with an almost 3-inch key, of which there are no copies.

The ingots were deposited to the UK, a country with the most secure storage in the world, out of fear of Nazi theft. The UK also stores French and the United States gold.

Belgium pays over $280,000 in rent for the storage every year.