Commerzbank: ETF Gold Holdings Highest Since December 2013

MOSCOW. Aug 17 - BTS-Most Holding has offered to buy minority shareholders out of gold miner Uzhuralzoloto Group of Companies (UGC) for 74.25 kopecks per share, the company said in a disclosure. This is the average weighted share price on the Moscow Exchange for six months prior to the offer. The offer expires in 70 days. UGC shares rose 3% on the news, from 67 kopecks to 69 kopecks per share on the exchange. The shares closed Friday at 67.05 kopecks. The market had expected this sort of offer price. Analysts at Vector Capital expected 72.4 kopecks per share. The offer applies to 32.8% of UGC shares. BTS-Most Holding, controlled by Ruslan Baysarov, received the other 67.2% in the middle of July after winning an auction for the stake in June. It said soon after that UGC would be renamed BTS-Gold. UGC is one of Russia's biggest gold miners. It has two hubs - Urals, in the Chelyabinsk region, and Siberia in the Krasnoyarsk territory and Khakassia.

MOSCOW. August 20- The Central Bank of Russia reduced the amount of gold in its reserves by another 0.2 million ounces or approximately 6 tonnes in July. The CBR data format does not enable a precise estimate. But the regulator said that as of August 1, monetary gold in Russia's international reserves amounted to 73.2 million ounces or approximately 2,280 tonnes, worth $292.9 billion. This figure decreased by 0.3% over the month in volume and 2.1% in value. Gold in the reserves has decreased by 0.2-0.3 million ounces each month tgis year or by 1.6 million oz or 50 tonnes in total. The CBR bought a lot of gold from 2014 to 2019, more than any other central bank. It said in the spring of 2020 that it was putting purchases on hold and gold in the reserves changed little, rising or falling as a rule by no more than 0.1 million oz for several years.

TASHKENT. Aug 24 - Azerbaijani companies plan to participate in the development of gold deposits, geological exploration, silver ore processing and rare earth metals mining in Uzbekistan, Gazeta.uz reported, quoting the Uzbek Investment, Industry and Trade Ministry's press office. AzerGold plans to participate in the development of the Akba gold deposit in the Kitab district in the Kashkadarya region. In addition, the company will conduct geological exploration at promising sites in the Nurata district in the Navoi region. Uzbekgeologorazvedka said in 2025 that the Akba deposit held mineable gold reserves of more than 13 tonnes, included in the state register. Follow-up exploration could reveal up to 50 more tonnes. Another project involves the extraction of rare earth metals in the Navoi, Tashkent, and Jizzakh regions. Neqsol Holding will be the Azerbaijani partner. In addition, a silver ore processing plant is planned for the Namangan region in collaboration with the Sur Gold and Silver Project.