Gold refineries suggest cbank buy gold without Good Delivery

MOSCOW, Mar 1 (PRIME) -- The Russian association of gold refineries has suggested the central bank start buying gold bars to replenish foreign exchange and gold reserves without the London Bullion Market Association’s (LBMA) Good Delivery status, the association said in a letter to Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin seen by PRIME on Tuesday.

The Good Delivery is a list of LBMA rules that describes physical characteristics of gold, silver, and platinum group metals. The status is given to reliable suppliers whose products require no additional inspections.

The association thinks that the latest sanctions against Russian banks reduce demand for refined precious metals as banks cannot sell them. Soon, the situation will mean the loss of their Good Delivery marks by the Russian gold refineries.

The LBMA has expanded demands for compliance with the Good Delivery status, driving it from confirmation of product quality to political stances, including control for compliance with the economic sanctions that the U.S., the E.U., or the U.K. imposed. The Russian government should ask the central bank to start buying bullions of refined precious metals from the Russian refineries without the Good Delivery label, the association said.

The products of Russian refineries should comply with the state standards, which are even stricter than the LBMA demands, the association added.

End %%md/jst%%