Kinross Gold asked Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to make mining regulations less strict.
The Toronto-based company requested at a meeting of the government's commission on foreign investment Monday that Russia "revisit the definition of strategic commodities and apply it only to those deemed truly strategic by the state," Kinross chief executive Tye Burt said Tuesday. Fields with more than 50 tons of gold are considered strategic, requiring extra government approvals.
Kinross plans to invest $350 million in Russia in two years, Burt said. The company's Chukotka Mining & Geological unit was the country's second-largest gold miner, according to the local Gold Producers' Union.
(Bloomberg)