Russia's Sberbank begins physical gold trading on Shanghai exchange

MOSCOW, July 13 (Reuters) - Russia's biggest bank Sberbank said on Thursday its Swiss subsidiary had begun trading physical gold on the Shanghai Gold Exchange.

Sberbank was granted international membership of the Shanghai exchange in September last year and in July completed a pilot transaction with 200 kg of gold kilobars sold to local financial institutions, the bank said.

Sberbank plans to expand its presence on the Chinese precious metals market and anticipates total delivery of 5-6 tonnes of gold to China in the remaining months of 2017.

Gold bars will be delivered directly to the official importers in China as well as through the exchange, Sberbank said.

Russia's second-largest bank VTB is also a member of the Shanghai Gold Exchange. (Reporting by Alexander Winning; editing by David Evans)