The Russian gold industry announced Thursday it will hold a special conference next week to discuss ways of setting up domestic gold markets while preserving state control over extraction and refining.


A statement by the precious metals committee said the industry needed $1 million to stabilize production.


The one-day conference in Moscow on Aug. 22 would look at plans to help raise the money required by establishing a domestic gold market and creating new securities which would be backed by gold, the statement said.


But it made clear the state would continue to exert a monopoly on extraction and refining of the metal.


"Attempts to bring the sector under market laws have also been a failure -- the state does not want to let the strategically important sector out of its control," said the statement. "Investors are not willing to act because of threat of the industry being nationalized."