Alrosa
Encyclopedia
ZAO ALROSA is Russia
'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. The company's headquarters are in Mirny
(Sakha Republic) and Moscow
.
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. http://eng.alrosa.ru/historic_highlights/
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 diamond
s from Alrosa. This was to support the Russian diamond mining industry while avoiding saturation in the global diamond market and thus further depression of diamond prices. The diamond mining industry is critical to the Yakutia economy.
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"
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)). http://eng.alrosa.ru/supervisory_board/
Associated companies, organizations and facilities
, BHP Billiton
, JFPI Corporation
and Rio Tinto Group
.
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
's largest diamond
Diamond
In mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...
company. Alrosa is engaged in the exploration, mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
, manufacture and sale of diamonds. The company's operations are located primarily in the Sakha Republic/Yakutsk
Yakutsk
With a subarctic climate , Yakutsk is the coldest city, though not the coldest inhabited place, on Earth. Average monthly temperatures range from in July to in January. The coldest temperatures ever recorded on the planet outside Antarctica occurred in the basin of the Yana River to the northeast...
region. Alrosa accounts for approximately 25% of the world's rough diamond supply and 97% of Russia's rough diamond production. The company's headquarters are in Mirny
Mirny, Sakha Republic
Mirny is a town in the Sakha Republic, Russia, located west of Yakutsk on the Irelyakh River . Population: It was founded in 1955 after the discovery of a nearby kimberlite pipe by expedition led by Yuri Khabardin; it has had town status since 1959.The town is served by Mirny Airport.There is a...
(Sakha Republic) and Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
.
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 FederationMinistry of Finance of the Russian FederationMinistry of Finance of the Russian Federation is a federal ministry, responsible for general financial policy and for general management in the field of finance of the Russian Federation. The ministry has two predecessors, the most notable one being the Ministry of Finance of the USSR, the other...
; - Various divisions of the Almazjuvelirexport Foreign Trade Association.
On March 28, 1998, Russian President Boris Yeltsin
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin was the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999.Originally a supporter of Mikhail Gorbachev, Yeltsin emerged under the perestroika reforms as one of Gorbachev's most powerful political opponents. On 29 May 1990 he was elected the chairman of...
signed the Law On Precious Metals and Stones - a document of vital importance to Alrosa, according to the company's website. http://eng.alrosa.ru/historic_highlights/
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
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
announced the Russian government
Government of Russia
The Government of the Russian Federation exercises executive power in the Russian Federation. The members of the government are the prime minister , the deputy prime ministers, and the federal ministers...
, via Gokhran
Gokhran
Gokhran , the State Precious Metals and Gems Repository, is a state institution under the Russian Ministry of Finance, responsible for the State Fund of Precious Metals and Precious Stones of the Russian Federation. It was created by Federal Resolution 1378...
, would buy $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
1 billion in uncut diamond
Diamond
In mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...
s from Alrosa. This was to support the Russian diamond mining industry while avoiding saturation in the global diamond market and thus further depression of diamond prices. The diamond mining industry is critical to the Yakutia economy.
Operations
Alrosa is active in diamond mining in AngolaAngola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
and Namibia
Namibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...
.
Alrosa is notably active in other mining activities including oil exploration
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
; natural gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
production; and gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
mining in the Russian Federation and Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
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"
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
Alexei Kudrin
Alexei Leonidovich Kudrin was the Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister of Russia from 18 May 2000 to 26 September 2011. After graduating with degrees in finance and economics, Kudrin worked in the administration of Saint Petersburg's liberal Mayor Anatoly Sobchak. In 1996 he started...
(Russia's Finance Minister, Chairman of the Board), Yegor Borisov
Yegor Borisov
Yegor Afanasyevich Borsiov is a Russian politician of Yakut ethnicity, who is serving as the president of the Sakha Republic, a federal subject of Russia. He took office on May 31, 2010 after Vyacheslav Shtyrov left office...
(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
Rosimushchestvo
The Federal Agency for State Property Management was a subdivision of the Russian Ministry of Economic Development and Trade that managed Russia's federal state property...
), Gleb Nikitin (Head of the Commercial Sector Property Management Division under Rosimushchestvo
Rosimushchestvo
The Federal Agency for State Property Management was a subdivision of the Russian Ministry of Economic Development and Trade that managed Russia's federal state property...
), 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)). http://eng.alrosa.ru/supervisory_board/
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). http://www.alrosa.ru/about/managment/top/Associated companies, organizations and facilities
- Almazexport in Moscow
- Anabar GOK a mining and diamond processing plant
- Botuobinskaya Kimberlite Pipe
- Brillianty Alrosa Diamond Manufacturing Company
- Catoca Diamond Processing Facility in Angola
- Catoca Diamond Deposit in Angola
- Diamond Center in Moscow
- Diamond Chamber, an entity of the Russian Federation
- Internationalnaya Underground Mine
- Internatzionalnaya Pipe - International Pipe
- Mirny Council of People's Deputies government
- Mirny Integrated Mining and Processing Plant
- Nyurba GOK, a mining and concentrating plant
- Nyurbinskaya Pipe
- Taiozhnaya Diamond Deposit
- Udachnaya pipeUdachnaya pipeUdachnaya pipe is a diamond deposit in the Daldyn-Alakit kimberlite field in Sakha Republic, Russia. It is an open-pit mine, and is located just outside the Arctic circle at . Udachnaya was discovered on June 15, 1955, just two days after the discovery of the diamond pipe Mir by Soviet...
- Udachny Integrated Mining and Processing Plant
- USSR Ministry of Non-ferrous Metallurgy
- Yubileinaya Pipe/Jublilee Pipe
- Yakutalmaz; Yakutalmaz Production and Research Association
- Yakutalmazstroy construction and installation division
- Yakutsk Diamond Production and Research Association
Competition
Alrosa's principal competitors include De BeersDe Beers
De Beers is a family of companies that dominate the diamond, diamond mining, diamond trading and industrial diamond manufacturing sectors. De Beers is active in every category of industrial diamond mining: open-pit, underground, large-scale alluvial, coastal and deep sea...
, BHP Billiton
BHP Billiton
BHP Billiton is a global mining, oil and gas company headquartered in Melbourne, Australia and with a major management office in London, United Kingdom...
, JFPI Corporation
JFPI Corporation
JFPI Corporation is an international closed-end investment and economic empowerment conglomerate based in Africa.While 100% of the shares are owned by private individuals, it is managed by a 53-member Board of Directors, representing each nation contained by Africa.JFPI promotes the growth of...
and Rio Tinto Group
Rio Tinto Group
The Rio Tinto Group is a diversified, British-Australian, multinational mining and resources group with headquarters in London and Melbourne. The company was founded in 1873, when a multinational consortium of investors purchased a mine complex on the Rio Tinto river, in Huelva, Spain from the...
.
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.External links
- Alrosa Main Site
- Alrosa Company Ltd
- 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