Doing Business in Russia. Котова К.П - 36 стр.

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als. He said, in particular, that the USA smelts three times more steel in per cap-
ita terms, the quality of which is much higher than that of our steel. He also
noted that only one mining combine “Streltsovsky” produced uranium in Russia.
        Another non-standard statement concerned the expansion of Russian terri-
tory: successful geological exploration on the North shelf has raised the question
of pushing the 200-mile zone further to the North. In addition, Russia has in re-
cent years prospected deposits on the floor of the world ocean; according to in-
ternational law such deposits are allotted to the country that discovers and de-
velops them. The chairman of the Mineral Resources Committee added paren-
thetically that the unique sea vessels required for this work have been main-
tained during the last year by the committee’s internal reserves.
        The chairman of the Mineral Resources Committee named coal, rather
than oil or gold, as the country’s main source of wealth both for now and in the
long run. He noted that the USA, for instance, mines three times more coal than
Russia, while Germany has made coal its main interest, which, incidentally,
means that mining coal can be profitable.
        A separate question discussed at the meeting concerned the possibility of
mortgaging mined gold and diamonds at banks in order to secure loans. Orlov
said that he had recently had a detailed c• nversation with president during with
this problem was discussed. Orlov believes that it will be resolved positively,
but not in the near future. He added, however, that precious metals and stones
can for the time being be mortgaged only at Russian banks and on Russia’s terri-
tory.
        The gold producers who took part in the club’s meeting complained to
one another, among other things, about the theft at state refining plants of pre-
cious metals handed over for processing, and about the fact that the state, which
monopolized the purchase of gold from the miners, does not pay them for half a
year, which reduced their profits to nothing after inflation. It is interesting to
note that the chairman of the Mineral Resources Committee supported their