Will Russia Increase the Pace of Its Gold Purchases?

According to the IMF, as reported in the British press, Russia increased its official gold golding by 9.2 metric tonnes between the end of August and the end of November.

As the story points out, that's one tonne per week -- not a heck of a lot, and far short of how much they'll have to add to meet official targets. Will the pace of Kremlin gold buying increase?

In other, "Oh, those Crazy Russians" news, we learn that Russia is going to cap foreign control of strategic companies.

As the story says:

Russia's Cabinet approved bills to restrict foreign ownership of companies in strategic industries, including energy, metals and defense.

“Restrictions are always bad,” said Elena Savchik, an oil and gas analyst at Renaissance Capital in Moscow. They “could make Russian assets less attractive.” The bills allow the government to reject foreign bids for majority stakes in Russian companies across 40 industries that are considered essential to national security.

XX My take -- I already know that Russia is building a new empire of energy. Maybe they're going to build an empire of vast numbers of resources. Keep your eye on what the Kremlin nationalizes next. For now, I wouldn't invest in Russia with anyone's money.

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