Russia’s international reserves increased by 4 percent to $499bln in 2011, the Central Bank said on Friday.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin made it clear on Thursday that Russia is the world’s third in both the GDP growth and in international reserves.
Russia’s international reserves hit a historical maximum of $598bln at the beginning of August 2008 but dropped during the crisis.
Russia comes third after China and Japan whose reserves are estimated at $3.2 and 1.1 tln respectively.