(Finmarket.ru) - The new president of ALROSA, Andrey Zharkov will carry out the implementation of the previously adopted strategy of the company, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told reporters. The aim of this strategy is to maximize the financial result, he said.
The strategy of ALROSA, suggesting to focus the company on its core diamond mining business and divest of non-core assets and low-gain businesses, was adopted in late 2013 before the company's IPO. Late last year, the Supervisory Board of ALROSA approved a long-term development program for the company until 2023, essentially repeating the strategy of 2013. Disagreements over the miner’s strategy between the top management of ALROSA and supervising Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Trutnev became one of the reasons for Fyodor Andreev, the then president of the company, to step down last September. Among other things, Yuri Trutnev proposed ALROSA to consider the development of diamond cutting industry in Yakutia, giving it preference.
When asked by reporters about the course of the new head of ALROSA and the continuing disagreement over strategy, the finance minister said, "The strategy has been agreed. The new president of the company will carry it out."
"The strategy of such a large company as ALROSA is a fundamental document on which the diamond industry depends in its further development. So when this document was prepared, there were discussions. Of course, there were comments from some participants of these discussions. But I want to say that this is a balanced and ambitious document. We set the task to develop ALROSA’s sales markets, improve its efficiency and profitability, thus increasing dividends to shareholders. The state is also a shareholder. We are interested in efficient performance of the company to have more taxes and dividends to the budget," said the minister.
Commenting on the question from one of the members of the Supervisory Board from Yakutia about whether ALROSA is going to fulfill social obligations to the Republic, Anton Siluanov said, "The company should not abandon its social function, but its main performance indicator is the financial result. The greater financial result is, the more taxes we shall have to the subject of the Russian Federation, as well as greater opportunities to carry out social tasks."
"The main task of the company is to achieve positive financial results, gain profit and tap into new markets. Therefore, there is no social task as such. However, the social function being carried out by the company will be preserved. In this respect, we need to work jointly with the subject of the federation looking for most efficient ways to perform this function," the minister of finance said.
