Will They or Won’t They? Kudrin Denies Alrosa IPO Plans

Alrosa is not heading towards an IPO, Russia’s Finance Minister and Alrosa Chairman Alexei Kudrin claims. This despite continued talk by Alrosa executives that the company is planning to go public.

On Saturday Kudrin said, “There are no such plans,” contradicting statements by Alrosa president Sergei Vybornov, who has been talking about a possible IPO almost since his appointment.

Last December Vybornov said that it will happen “In the nearest future, I mean within a year or a year and a half, we are planning an IPO.”

Two months later Kudrin told Interfax that there is no plan for an IPO “thus far.” The opposing statements expose a rift among the diamond miner’s top executives about the future of the company.

Insiders have often commented that conflicting statements from within Alrosa are commonplace, adding that it makes doing business with it difficult.

One long-term policy that may have finally happened is Russia’s taking over Alrosa. Kudrin was quoted saying that the transfer of a 50 percent stake plus one share into the hands of the government “has been completed.” Alrosa has not issued a statement confirming this.