Alrosa sells bank, to focus exclusively on diamond mining

Russia’s Alrosa, the world’s No. 1 diamond producer by output in carats, announced Monday it has sold its majority stake in its subsidiary LLC MAK-Bank to Expobank, as part of its ongoing move to unload non-core assets.

The miner, which owned an 84.66% stake in its financial subsidiary, has decided to focus on the precious gems business exclusively, as it anticipates moderate growth in the market this year.

CB MAK-Bank has been operational since 1990. It is engaged in banking and credit financing in industry, investment and commerce. There are about 3,000 companies and more than 100,000 individuals among the clients of the bank. MAK-Bank has 10 offices in Russia.

Expobank has 17 offices in Moscow, Saint-Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Kemerovo, Yekaterinburg, Perm, Krasnoyarsk and Surgut.