Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register April 8 (Reuters) – Shares of state-controlled Alrosa Diamond Mining (ALRS.MM) listed in Moscow fell 12% on Friday after US sanctions were extended to cut the company to cut additional revenue for the Russian state. budget. read more Alrosa, the world’s largest producer of rough diamonds and competing with the Anglo American (AAL.L) De Beers unit, produced about 30% of world production in 2021. It exports mainly to Belgium, India and the United Arab Emirates. Washington on Thursday placed Alrosa on the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, which effectively’s expelling a U.S. banking company that bans its trade with the United States, complicating matters in the global diamond market. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Alrosa said U.S. sanctions, along with previous British sanctions on mining, made it technically impossible to pay the $ 11.6 million Eurobond voucher that expires on April 9. Alrosa “is considering the options for the proper fulfillment of its obligations under the Notes,” it added in a statement. He did not comment further on US sanctions. It employs more than 32,000 people and mines diamonds in Russia’s Far East, where the climate is harsh and miners’ chances of finding another job are slim. “Diamonds are one of Russia’s top 10 non-energy exports, with exports exceeding $ 4.5 billion in 2021,” the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said in a statement. extended sanctions. After Russia sent tens of thousands of troops to Ukraine on February 24 in what it called a special operation, OFAC limited Alrosa’s ability to raise new debt and shares in the United States. Alrosa also has a 41% stake in Angola diamond company Catoca, but Catoca should not be affected by US sanctions, as OFAC said only entities that owned 50% or more of Alrosa were blocked. . Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Report by Reuters. Editing by David Holmes and Nick Zieminski Our role models: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
