 
<div id="_mcePaste">Gokhran, Russia’s state repository, is considering selling the stockpile of diamonds it bought from ALROSA during 2009, Bloomberg reported.</div>
“We are being asked to begin selling diamonds from the reserve we acquired last year,” Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin told reporters on Saturday. “We are now considering these offers.”

Gokhran bought about $1 billion worth of rough from ALROSA in 2009 as it simultaneously refrained from selling to the open market during the downturn. The state repository subsequently pledged to refrain from selling the diamonds before 2012, responding to concerns that it may flood the market.

Kudrin explained that the government's decision to buy ALROSA’s stock was justified since the diamond market has “woken up” as prices have recovered.

Bloomberg also cited ALROSA's president, Fyodor Andreev, statement in a July interview that Gokhran may choose to sell the diamonds on its own or offer ALROSA “some kind of swap” deal.  

Ref: <a href="http://www.diamonds.net/news/NewsItem.aspx?ArticleID=32329" target="_blank">Diamonds.net</a>