YAKUTSK. Jan 6 (Interfax) - President Vladimir Putin has proposed forming an international consortium to develop the Elginskoye coal deposit in Yakutia.

"An international consortium, with Russia playing the role of leading strategic investor, could be an effective form of implementing this project. It would help draw advanced technology and capital, and, concurrently, control this promising resource base," Putin on Friday told a meeting which addressed Yakutia's development.

"We must see what organizations plan to develop this deposit, and assess the size of state investment and the end result," the Russian president said.

"If Russian Railways intends to put 2 billion of the required 2.7 billion rubles, the question arises: Where are the other shareholders and, generally speaking, do we need them at all?" he said.

Putin said that nearly 30 million tonnes of coal could be mined from the Elginskoye coal deposit annually by 2010. sd