U-Turn: Alrosa Offloads Diamonds to Russian Government
March 28, 24
(IDEX Online) - Alrosa, Russia's state-controlled diamond miner, is to make regular sales of its 2024 production to the government in response to the G7 new sanctions, according to the Moscow-based Interfax news agency.
Such a move would be a significant U-turn. In January Alexei Moiseev, Russia's deputy finance minister, boasted that his country had a "colossal safety margin" to survive the sanctions.
He went on record saying it was not considering the purchase of Alrosa's diamonds, as it has done on previous occasions.
But it is now being reported that the Gokhran - the Finance Ministry's repository of precious stones and metals - has bought up Alrosa's entire production for March, and will make further purchases throughout the year.
Alrosa reported increased sales of $3.55bn last year last year, but is now bracing itself for sanctions by the G7 nations, representing 70 per cent of diamond purchases.
They currently cover all Russian goods of 1.0-cts or larger, regardless of where they were polished and rom September will be expanded to all stones of 0.50-cts or above.
Alrosa declined to comment.
Pic courtesy Alrosa.