OREANDA-NEWS. November 19, 2009. Russia’s state diamond and jewelry reserve Gokhran plans to sell 30 tons of gold to CBR by the end of 2009, vice PM and finance minister Alexei Kudrin told the media. “We have plans to sell 30 tons of gold from Gokhran by the end of the year.

The transaction is currently being documented,” said Kudrin whose ministry oversees Gokhran’s activity. He went on to say that his ministry finds it proper to sell gold to the country’s hard currency reserves, as the latter is being diversified and, secondly, gold is to be sold at a high price, a market price that is offered on the global market.

According to Kudrin, the authorities aim to solve several objectives: to replenish the budget and help the industry develop. Proceeds from gold sales will be spent on purchasing other resources, including diamonds from diamond monopoly Alrosa worth RUB 31 bn, Kudrin said. According to him, next year Russian authorities mull buying from Alrosa diamonds approximately for the same amount, but have no plans to sell gold so far. “For the time being, we are not going to sell gold in 2010,” the finance minister said.