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ALROSA to Issue More Stock
An extraordinary shareholders meeting at ALROSA on Saturday decided to increase the authorized capital in the company to 982 million rubles through a closed stock issue to its largest shareholders. As a result, the share of the Russian government in the company will increase from 37 percent to a controlling package. Yakutia (The Republic of Sakha) will retain its 40-percent total share and Vneshtorgbank will no longer have a share in the company at all.
ALROSA will issue 72,726 shares for 13,502.5 rubles. In addition to the federal and regional governments, eight villages in Yakutia will have the opportunity to buy less than 730 shares each. Minority shareholders will also have a chance to buy shares. ALROSA produced $2.86 worth of diamonds in 2006.
Property will be used to pay for part of the stock issue. ALROSA was founded in the early 1990s with the right to use the property of the former Yakutalmaz. ALROSA now rents more than 13,000 facilities that were transferred to Yakutia in 1993. In the early 2000s, the federal government declared that that transfer was made with violations of the law. Under a 2006 settlement, ownership of that property was split between Yakutia and the federal government. Its value is estimated at $2.6 billion. The value of the company itself is estimated at $6.4 billion. Vneshtorgbank's share in the diamond company, which it had always managed in the interests of the federal government, will also end up in federal hands now.
The next step for the company, after the new stock issue will be to convert the company into a joint stock society and place its stick on a stock market. Experts note, however, that it would have attracted more interest and a better credit rating three years ago, when most other mining companies went public.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Nov. 12, 2007
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Photo: Mariya Vasil'eva
