ALROSA

This article has been nominated to be checked for its neutrality. Discussion of this nomination can be found on the talk page. (November 2008)

This article may contain improper references to self-published sources. Please help improve it by removing references to unreliable sources, where they are used inappropriately. (January 2009)

ZAO ALROSA (Russian: Закрытое акционерное общество АЛРОСА), is world's largest diamond company. Alrosa is engaged in the exploration, mining, manufacture and sale of diamonds. The company's operations are located primarily in the Sakha Republic/Yakutsk region. Alrosa accounts for approximately 25% of the world's rough diamond supply and 97% of Russia's rough diamond production.^{[citation needed]} The company's headquarters are in Mirny (Sakha Republic) and Moscow.

History

The company was set up according to Presidential Decree №158C of the President of Russia "On the Establishment of the Almazy Rossii-Sakha Joint Stock Company" signed on 19 February 1992, as the legal successor to the following entities:

• NPO Yakutalmaz, a former USSR state-owned diamond mining company;
• The diamond sorting and marketing divisions of the State Committee for Precious Metals and Gemstones of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation;
• Various divisions of the Almazjuvelirexport Foreign Trade Association.

On March 28, 1998, Russian President Boris Yeltsin signed the Law On Precious Metals and Stones - a document of vital importance to Alrosa, according to the company's website. [2]

On July 2007 Verkhne-Munskoye diamond field in Yakutia was discovered with estimated value of about $3.5 billion.

In August 2009 during the recent financial crisis, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced the Russian government, via Gokhran, would buy $1 billion in uncut diamonds from Alrosa.^[1] This was to support the Russian diamond mining industry while avoiding saturation in the global diamond market and thus further depression of diamond prices.^[1] The diamond mining industry is critical to the Yakutia economy.^[1]

Operations

Alrosa is active in diamond mining in Angola and Namibia.

Alrosa is notably active in other mining activities including oil exploration; natural gas production; and gold mining in the Russian Federation and Kazakhstan through Celtic Resources Holdings of Dublin, Ireland.

"ALROSA...has remained opposed to the attempt to control conflict diamonds and is suspected of violating the terms of the Kimberly Process"^[2]

Management

Supervisory Board

The Supervisory Board of Alrosa carries out overall guidance of the Company and consists of 15 members, including seven representatives of governmental authorities of the Russian Federation, five representatives of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), two representatives of the Company’s employees, and one representative of the local districts (uluses) – co-founders of the Company.

As of 2006, the Supervisory Board of Alrosa consists of Alexei Kudrin (Russia's Finance Minister, Chairman of the Board), Yegor Borisov (Chairman of the Government of Sakha (Yakutia), Vice Chairman of the Board), Gennady Alekseev (First Deputy Chairman of the Government of Sakha (Yakutia)), Alexander Akhlopov, Ivan Demyanov (Vice-President of Alrosa), Galina Makarova (Minister of Property Relations of Sakha (Yakutia)), Ivan Materov (State Secretary, Russia's First Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade), Yuriy Medvedev (Russia's First Deputy Head of Rosimushchestvo), Gleb Nikitin (Head of the Commercial Sector Property Management Division under Rosimushchestvo), Aysen Nikolaev (Finance Minister of Sakha (Yakutia)), Alexander Nichiporuk (President of Alrosa), Anatoliy Popov (Head of the Mirny District Administration), Sergey Samoylov (Aide to Russia's President), Leonid Tolpezhnikov (Head of a department of Russia's Finance Ministry), Vyacheslav Shtyrov (President of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)). [3]

Executive Board

As of 2006, the Executive Board of Alrosa consists of Alexander Nichiporuk (President), Vladimir Kalitin (Counsellor of the President), Petr Glagolev (First Vice President, Executive Director), Mikhail Ganchenko (Chief Engineer), Ernst Berezkin (First Vice President), Pyotr Galaev (Vice President), Ivan Demyanov (Vice President), Yuri Dudenkov (Vice President), Yuri Ionov (Vice President), Olga Lyashenko (Chief Accountant), Alexander Morozkin (Vice President), Semyon Nazarov (Vice President), Dmitry Novikov (Vice President), Valentina Potrubeyko (Vice President) Sergey Uulin Vice President, Gustav Yakovlev (Vice President), Sergey Alyabyev (Director of the Nyrba mining combinate), Yuri Doinikov (Director of the Mirny mining combinate), Alexander Kozupeev (Director of the Anabar mining combinate), Yuri Petrov, Semyon Ponomaryov, Alexander Chaadaev and two members with advisory vote: Anatoliy Popov (Head of the Mirny District Administration) and Pavel Tretyakov (Chairman of the Profalmaz Trade Union). [4]

Competition

Alrosa's principal competitors include De Beers, BHP Billiton, JFPI Corporation and Rio Tinto Group.

Links to the Icelandic financial crisis

Document trail showed that ALROSA's Luxembourg-registed subsidiary Alrosa Finance was partially owned by Shapburg Limited and Quenon Investments Limited. Both companies are related to a number of important Icelandic companies that have rapidly expanded abroad. The finding was reported in 2005 in Denmark.^[3]

See also

• Diamonds as an investment
• Kremlin Diamond Fund

References

External links

• Alrosa Main Site (Russian) (English)
• Alrosa Company Ltd (English)
• Celtic Resources Holdings plc
• MBendi's Alrosa information page, including details of activities and related companies
• Alrosa news in the Israeli diamond industry official portal