State Duma passes bill in 1st reading classing info about size of Russia's foreign reserves as state secret

MOSCOW. June 23 (Interfax) - The Russian State Duma has adopted in the first reading a government bill that classifies information about the country's size of gold and foreign currency reserves as a state secret.

The document was submitted to the lower house of the Russian parliament on June 10.

The bill envisages amendments to Article 7 of the State Secrets Law of the Russian Federation, which describes information that is not subject to state secrets and may not be classified as such. Currently, the list of information includes, among other things, the size of Russia's gold reserves and foreign exchange reserves. The bill adopted in the first reading by the State Duma abolishes this legal provision.

As of the beginning of February, the stocks of monetary gold included in Russia's international reserves amounted to 73.9 million ounces (almost 2,300 tonnes). The Bank of Russia has since stopped disclosing the level of foreign reserves.

The bill is meant to take effect on the day of publication.