Russia mulls over doubling mine budget

27 Mar, 2008 09:20 / Updated 16 years ago

Russia is being urged to double funds for mine exploration by one of its own Ministers. Funding should eventually jump to around $US 23 BLN dollars, says Natural Resources Minister, Yuri Trutnev.

“We have said to the government today that it’s essential to boost financing for exploration for the period to 2020 from 260 billion roubles to 540 billion roubles,” he said. The focus of the boost will be on oil and gas in East Siberia. Uranium exploration is another priority.