Moscow worried by region's control of gold output
04:36 p.m Sep 01, 1998 Eastern
By Aleksandras Budrys
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian state gold officials were alarmed Tuesday over the prospects of reduced gold deliveries from the Yakutia region after a decree by its leader putting gold production there under control of local authorities.
Siberia's autonomous republic of Yakutia-Sakha is one of Russia's main gold-producing regions. The Russian federal law on precious metals and stones gives Gokhran, preferential rights in buying gold from producers.
''All gold sales to Russia's Gokhran and to commercial banks will be made only after coordination with the Precious Metals, Stones and Currency Committee of the Sakha (Yakutia) government,'' said the decree, signed by Sakha President Mikhail Nikolayev last week.
''If Yakutia fails to meet its obligations we will stop advance payments to Yakutian gold miners and will appeal to an arbitration court to protect our property rights,'' Vladimir Skripchenko, deputy department head at the Gokhran state fund for precious metals and stones, said.
Skripchenko said supplies have not yet been interrupted and Gokhran was still expecting fresh deliveries this month.
Sakha representative in Moscow Kliment Ivanov told Reuters the decree was not affecting deliveries to Gokhran. ''The supplies (to Gokhran) will not be reduced,'' he said.
However, Ivanov said the republic planned to impose quotas on gold sales to Gokhran and to commercial banks. ''It is the kind of support the producers will be interested in,'' he said.
He said the decree was designed to guarantee safety of gold deliveries and the interests of gold miners. ''We are better fit to guarantee the safety as we are closer to gold production than Gokhran,'' Ivanov said.
Sakha-Yakutia produced about 20 tons of gold in 1997 and was expected to produce an equal amount this year, Ivanov said.
Russia's gold output in 1997 fell to 106 tons from 113 tons in the previous year.
Sakha also mines 95 percent of Russia's diamonds.
Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited. |
