Vtb Bank to Earn 8.7 Bln Rubles From Sale of 10.6% Stake in Alrosa

MOSCOW. July 14 (Interfax) – VTB Bank (RTS: VTBR) will earn 8.7 billion rubles from the sale of its 10.63% stake (21,253 shares) in Alrosa (RTS: ALRS), Russia’s Yakutia-based diamond monopoly, the bank said in a statement.

VTB sold its stake in Alrosa as part of an agreement with the Federal Property Agency. Under the terms of the transaction, payment for the stake totaled 8.7 billion rubles.

All the legal procedures related to the transaction are to be completed in the third quarter of 2008.

The federal government gained control over Alrosa as the result of a share issue in June. The 10.6% stake that VTB Bank bought in the company in spring 2006 in the government’s interests was to be transferred to the state later after the bank received the cash equivalent of the shares.

Alrosa President Sergei Vybornov has said that the value of the total diamond reserves at all fields for which the company holds licenses currently stands at $109 billion.

Alrosa is the world’s fourth largest diamond producer.

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