Azernews.Az

By Nigar Orujova

Additional 1 ton of gold (some 32,150 troy ounces) purchased by the Azerbaijan's state oil fund, SOFAZ, in compliance with the rules set forth by the LBMA was imported to Azerbaijan by the UK's Brinks Global Services on Friday, SOFAZ reported.

"The total amount of gold imported by the Oil Fund to Azerbaijan is approximately 4 tons (128,600 troy ounces)this year," the report said.

The first batch of gold (32,150 troy ounces) was delivered to the country on January 11, the second batch on February 1 and the third batch on March 1.

Some 18,666 kg (600,146 troy ounces) of gold was included into SOFAZ investment portfolio as of April 5. At the same time, about 14,934 kg of gold (480,146 troy ounces) was included into SOFAZ investment portfolio as of December 31, 2012.

Earlier SOFAZ head Shahmar Movsumov said the fund plans to bring its gold reserves to 30 tons by late 2013.

"According to SOFAZ's current investment policy, up to five percent of our investment portfolio may fall to gold," he said. "We started making our investments in this kind of assets in February 2012 and acquired about 15 tons by the end of last year."

SOFAZ was established in 1999 when its assets constituted $271 million. As of January 1, 2013, SOFAZ's assets amounted to over $34.1 billion.

The main purposes of the fund are the accumulation of funds and placement of assets abroad to minimize the negative impact on the economy, preventing the so-called Dutch disease to ensure savings for future generations and to maintain the current social and economic standards in the country.

SOFAZ buys gold on the London Metal Exchange.

Gold delivered to the country will be initially stored in the vaults of the Central Bank of Azerbaijan.

Furthermore, it is planned to construct a vault for the storage of valuables in the new administrative building of SOFAZ. The gold will be stored in this vault after the building is put into operation.