Russia has formally set up a financial and industrial corporation, the Gold Club, to oversee the creation of a domestic gold market, a senior official said Thursday.


Ruslan Shamurin, president of the Moscow Clearing House, one of the founders of the new institution, said the participants of the Gold Club's constituent conference had approved its charters and structure.


"Our main goal is to participate in the development of laws that will allow Russia to use gold not only as a commodity but also as a financial instrument," Shamurin said.


"Another task is to accelerate the creation of a gold exchange, which is already being registered."


The Gold Club of Russia unites representatives of the State Precious Metals Committee, the economics and finance ministries, and the Central Bank, as well as authorized commercial banks.


Gold cannot currently be freely traded in Russia but officials plan to set up a domestic market. The Finance Ministry last year issued special one-year certificates redeemable for Russian gold, but they have proved unpopular in secondary trading.


Officials at the State Precious Metals Committee said one of the club's aims would be to issue gold-backed securities to finance the cash-starved gold sector.


They said a gold exchange would set a domestic price for gold, to be used by the Central Bank and tax service to assess banks' and enterprises' assets.


Payments between market players would be conducted on a noncash basis through the Moscow Clearing House.