Russian commercial banks can't get enough gold

From Interfax News Service
Monday, January 10, 2006

http://www.interfax.ru/e/B/0/26.html?id_issue=11657879

MOSCOW -- A total of 42 commercial banks signed contracts to buy 161.9 tonnes of gold from producers in 2006, a source at the Gokhran precious metals and gemstones repository told Interfax.

Not all of the gold will have been delivered by the end of last year, so there could be some discrepancy between the amount of gold ordered and actually received, the source said.

A total of 43 commercial banks signed contracts to buy 176.6 tonnes of gold from producers in 2005. Russia produced 168 tonnes of gold in 2005.

The Russian Gold Producers' Union has said it expected Russia to produce 165 tonnes of gold in 2006.

The Gokhran source said that 18 banks had so far ordered 56.3 tonnes of gold for 2007. "Some banks are already signing contracts for 2011," the source said.

Russia's biggest gold buyers are Vneshtorgbank, Sberbank, Rosbank, Zenit, UralSib, Gazprombank, Nomos Bank, Soyuz, Expobank, Lanta Bank, and Khanty-Mansiisk Bank.

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