The Russian Finance Ministry will decide whether to buy diamonds from Russia’s top producer Alrosa for the state-owned repository Gokhran based on how the market looks after the second quarter, the Interfax news agency reported on Tuesday.
The Russian Finance Ministry resumed regular diamond purchases from Alrosa for the state fund last year, completing one transaction in March after global restrictions on diamond imports from Russia to G7 countries took effect in January 2024.
“At this stage, we are observing the market dynamics. Indeed, it is quite weak. But in principle, the first quarter is rarely good,” Interfax cited Deputy Finance Minister Aleksei Moiseev as saying.
“We will see how much the situation has systematically changed, taking into account seasonality, at the end of the second quarter. Then we will make a decision.”
Alrosa’s output fell by 4.6% to 33 million carats in 2024, while net profit decreased by 77.3% to 19.3 billion roubles ($216.26 million).
($1 = 89.2455 roubles)
(Reporting by Anastasia Lyrchikova; Writing by Maxim Rodionov; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
