Russian gold reserves drop by $15.7 billion

Russian gold reserves dropped by $15.7 billion to $398.9 billion on December 12-19, to the same volume as in late August 2009, RBC reports.

The gold reduction was a result of REPO currency auctions where banks got over $7 billion. The Bank of Russia and the Ministry for Finances offered the market about $5 billion of currency interventions and sale of currency remains of the budget.

Re-evaluation of components and currency swaps had a certain affect on the volume of gold reserves.