Alrosa keen to venture into gold assets

An Alrosa-led consortium is likely to negotiate for a 25 percent stake worth $2.1 billion in Polyus Gold, Russia’s biggest gold producer. Alrosa would acquire the stake from Onexim Group, the holding company of Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov.

According to the Russian Finance Minister Alexey Kudrin, who is also Alrosa’s supervisory board chairman, Alrosa’s intent to acquire stake in Polyus Gold was yet in the initial phase although Alrosa is keen on venturing into the gold and energy sectors.
“Alrosa is interested in various assets in the extraction industry, not only diamonds,” It is premature to speak of an agreement over Polyus. We are looking at the possibility of taking part in gold assets".

Alrosa may also vest interest in merging with Norilsk Nickel, the world’s largest nickel producer, in whose holding company the $33 billion Interros, Prokhorov and his business partner Vladimor Potanin are co-owners.