MOSCOW – Russia's largest gold producer Polyus sold more gold last year to Otkritie bank, which was rescued last August by the country's central bank, Polyus's 2017 management report showed on Thursday.
Russian gold producers usually sell their product to Russian banks which then sell it on to the central bank or export it. The biggest players in this market are Russia's two largest lenders - Sberbank and VTB.
Otkritie had a significantly smaller share in the gold market, Polyus CEO Pavel Grachev told Reuters in September.
Polyus's management report for 2017, published on Thursday, showed that 34% of Polyus's 2017 revenue was received from sales to Otkritie, or $909-million. This compared with 23% in 2016. In 2017, Polyus sold a total of 2.16-million troy ounces of gold for $2.7-billion.
The increase in gold sales puts Otkritie in second place among Polyus's customers, overtaking Sberbank, whose share of Polyus's sales fell to 19% from 27% in 2017, according to the financial reports. VTB's share of Polyus's sales remained flat at 37% in 2017.
Polyus did not immediately respond to a Reuters' request for comment.
Formerly Russia's largest private bank, Otkritie was put under the central bank's administration in August last year, after rapid expansion and making risky investments.
Polyus's 2017 management report followed publication of its 2017 financial results on Thursday.