The Russian government has pledged to declassify information detailing the production and sale of platinum group metals by October.

A senior finance ministry official sought to emphasise the country's commitment to greater transparency in the sector by promising that the figures would be made available, but also stressed that data on reserves of such minerals would remain a state secret.

The official's comments to Dow Jones follows an announcement earlier in the week from the Natural Resources Ministry, which revealed that the long-awaited process of declassification had been postponed..

The plans to declassify the data initially came into law back in February after a vote in the Duma, but they need backing from President Vladimir Putin before they are officially enacted.

The disclosure of pgm data is designed to make the Russian market more appealing to foreign investment and remove some of the layers of secrecy that have surrounded the sector for many years.