Proceeds from privatization of ALROSA to be allocated to develop infrastucture in Yakutia – Shuvalov

The Russian government intends to privatize the entire state-owned package of shares in diamond mining company ALROSA and allocate the proceeds for the development of Yakutia, according to a recent statement by Vice Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, cited by RIA Novosti.
“Within the frames of the government decision you will see that we bear in mind privatization of the whole stake owned by the government, and we shall coordinate the sale with Yakutia, as there are regional and municipal shares. And the money received from privatization, the whole or some other amount, will be retained to develop the infrastructure in Yakutia, as this issue is very sensitive for the region and they do not want to sell their stake in ALROSA,” Shuvalov explained.
“But there are so many problems in Yakutia – on the one hand, some are related to its infrastructure, while on the other hand, we could develop so many new deposits having this infrastructure that we could use this money to fill Yakutia’s treasury on a much more considerable scale, and revenues from these enterprises and deposits could be entirely different. But now we see no dividends, nothing,” Vice Prime Minister noted.
ALROSA’s shares gained 3.33% following the government’s decision to sell its entire stake in the diamond mining company, RosBusinessConsulting reported.