Alrosa has "Colossal Safety Margin" to Survive Sanctions
January 17, 24
(IDEX Online) - Russia's finance ministry says Alrosa has a "colossal safety margin" and currently needs no intervention to survive sanctions imposed by G7 nations from 1 January.
The state-controlled miner has previously offloaded diamonds it couldn't sell to the Gokhran - Russia's state-run repository of precious stones and metals.
Russia's deputy finance minister Alexei Moiseyev told the Interfax news agency: "There is no indication yet that it will be required. The company has a colossal safety margin, it has negative net debt, and with a large margin."
Alrosa's sales $4bn annually have, until now, been unaffected by sanctions. It sold 34.6m carats in 2023, despite halting all sales in September and October in a bid to stabilize prices.
Moiseyev said the company was preparing for sanctions. "There was no secret about it, our opponents have been talking about it for a long time," he said.
The new G7 package of sanctions, unlike those introduced by the US in 2022, will cover diamonds mined in Russia and then polished elsewhere.