Diamond miner wants out from Russian oil and gas: Alrosa plans sale of Yakutia licences.
Diamond miner wants out from oil and gas
Russian state diamond miner Alrosa will sell its domestic oil and gas licences this month to a private Russian oil company, the company's chief executive said.
"We consider them a non-core asset and we have the clear intention of selling them. I think the deal will be completed by the end of this month," Sergei Vybornov said in an interview on the sidelines of the St Petersburg Economic Forum.
He did not identify the buyer, but ruled out Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom and state-controlled oil company Rosneft .
"It's Russian. It's not state-owned, not fully state-owned," he said when asked about the identity of the buyer.
Alrosa owns oil and gas exploration licences in the far eastern region of Yakutia.
Surgutneftegaz , Russia's fourth-largest oil producer, owns hydrocarbon reserves in Yakutia.