Alrosa CEO Zharkov Could Be Stepping Down Soon – Report
February 20, 17
(IDEX Online) – Alrosa CEO Andrey Zharkov could be leaving the mining firm after less than two years as its head.
Zharkov, who has been Alrosa's CEO since spring 2015, has been in dispute over its 2017 budget with the Finance Ministry, Kommersant newspaper said on Monday, citing sources.
The Russian government is considering Sergey Ivanov, ex-head of insurer SOGAZ and son of the former head of the Kremlin administration, for Zharkov's replacement, sources told Reuters. They did not give a reason for the potential management change. Alrosa and the Finance Ministry declined to comment.
The Russian government sold a 10.9 percent stake in Alrosa last year raising $813 million as part of a privatization program. The state plans to cut its stake in Alrosa further to 25 percent plus one share by 2019, but the Finance Ministry has said that no sale is planned in 2017.
Alrosa's 2016 diamond production totaled 37.4 million carats, down 2 percent year-on-year, with revenue from rough diamond sales of at least $4.3 billion.