N e w s

In the interview to the newspaper "Vremya MN" the Alrosa president Vyacheslav Shtyrov expressed his opinion concerning the recent press statements of the new head of Gokhran Valery Rudakov, reported Alrosa press service. "First of all I can hardly agree with the Gokhran's intention to become a controlling and commercial organization in one", said Vyacheslav Shtyrov. "It contradicts the law "On Precious Metals and Stones" which states that Gokhran is an institution exercising state control over the industries of precious material production. Being such, the organization should not have as its objective profit gaining when purchasing or selling the materials. In this case another institution will have to be created in order to control Gokhran's commercial activity".

Another point of disagreement between the head of Gokhran and and V. Shtyrov is the state control over diamond mining. State control was introduced in 1993 and is still exercised in the Sakha Republic in the Center of Diamond Selection and in Moscow Sales Organization. Gokhran believes these posts should be dismissed. The president of Alrosa suggests that such institutions should be preserved.

Contrary to Rudakov's opinion, the Alrosa president does not think that Alrosa's own lapidary can participate in honest competition. "By establishing a lapidary plant Alrosa is not only maintaining the company's interests but developing a marketing policy in order to measure the world diamond prices for the whole ABK of Russia", noted the president of Alrosa Vyacheslav Shtyrov.