Moscow: Coming shortly after their announcement of developing Vladivostok as a diamond center, Russia’s diamond mining giant ALROSA has held an auction to sell industrial grade and gem quality natural rough diamonds in the Eurasian Diamond Centre in Primorye (the Russian Far East), the company writes in a press release. 22 companies from China, South Korea, India, Europe, Russia and other countries participated in the auction. ALROSA sold 461 thousand carats worth USD 12.9 million, including 440 thousand carats of industrial grade diamonds for USD 4.924 million, and 21 thousand carats of gem quality diamonds for USD 7.98 million. Indian and Chinese companies were the main auction buyers.

In cooperation with the Russian Gokhran – vault, specialized carrier and bank – the company says that a specialized permanent excise customs post, launched in the Eurasian Diamond Centre at the trading session, ensures the full range of processes required for sales. The statement adds that combining the functions of a trading platform, storage, logistics, registration and control in one complex located close to the airport allows speeding up the shipping of goods up to 2-3 days.

In 2017, the Company is planning to sell 2 million carats of all types of diamonds worth USD 73 million through its Far East branch. Auctions for special size 10.8+ and industrial grade rough diamonds will be held in the next 3 months.