MOSCOW, September 22 (RIA Novosti) -- Alrosa, a Russian diamond monopoly, said Friday it sold $1.7 billion worth of rough diamonds in the first eight months of 2006.
"In the first eight months of 2006, rough diamond sales reached $1.709 billion, including $778.4 million on the domestic market," the company said in a news release. "The sales plan for the first eight months of this year has been exceeded by 1%."
Alrosa is one of the world's biggest diamond mining companies, accounting for 25% of overall production in monetary terms. The company's major shareholders are the Federal Agency for the Management of Federal Property (37%), the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), where it is based (40%), and various legal entities and individuals (23%).
