The volume of Sberbank of Russia’s Ural branch’s nominal accounts used to invest in precious metals went up by 1.4 times compared to 2006 and reached over 6.4 tons. The bank had more than 14,500 nominal accounts of this kind on January 1, 2008, with 2.2 tons of gold kept in these accounts.

The volume of retail sales of gold came to more than 106 kilograms of bullions and 312 kilograms of coins, whereas the sales of silver reached 1,396 kilograms in 2007. In addition, the bank offered its customers over 350 nominations of coins made from precious metals in thirty different countries as part of its World’s Coins through Sberbank of Russia project.

People grow more and more interested in investing in precious metals because gold tends to grow more expensive: the price of gold rose by more than 31% on the international markets last year. The bank’s Affordable Precious Metals program allows its customers to easily invest in gold, silver, platinum, and palladium in the form of coins and bullions or through nominal accounts. These accounts are the most affordable and profitable way of investing in precious metals that both businesses and private individuals can use. Nominal precious metal accounts are very much like the usual savings deposits, it’s just that the track is kept of grams of gold rather than rubles. Having opened such an account, one can buy or sell precious metals using rubles, or get the bullions. The maintenance of these accounts is free of charge.