Is Russia Giving Up on Alrosa?

(IDEX Online News) – Russia intends to sell its entire stake in diamond giant Alrosa, according to a top Russian official. The surprising, and somewhat unlikely, privatization aims to raise money for improving Yakutia’s infrastructures.

First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, quoted by Interfax, said the transaction will be coordinated with regional authorities.

"We mean the entire stake,” Shuvalov emphasized, adding that this a sensitive issue for the government of Yakutia.

“They don't want to sell but there are so many infrastructure problems in the republic and many new deposits that could be developed, that the proceeds from the sale of Alrosa could significantly replenish the Yakutian treasury.”

The move is viewed as unlikely under the Putin regime, which has acted to regain control of the country’s resources in the past decade.

According to Shuvalov, currently the government does not see dividends “or anything else.”