One of the world's largest diamond producers is halting mining operations in Russia due to billion-ruble losses
Kyiv • UNN
Alrosa has suspended operations at its least profitable deposits after reporting a loss of 9.5 billion rubles. The company's production could fall to 25–26 million carats.
The Russian diamond-mining company Alrosa has suspended production at a number of deposits due to financial difficulties and the need to cut costs. The restrictions have also affected deposits operated by its subsidiary Almazy Anabara, the world’s largest placer-diamond-mining company. The Moscow Times reports this, citing Alrosa CEO Pavel Marinichev, writes UNN.
Details
According to the company’s head, production was suspended primarily at the least profitable deposits. Almazy Anabara accounts for about 11% of the group’s total production.
We have suspended production at our least profitable deposits. We are optimizing our costs
Billion-ruble losses and declining production
In 2026, Alrosa became unprofitable for the first time in six years. In the first half of the year, the company reported a loss of 9.5 billion rubles.
Its revenue fell by 33%, while EBITDA dropped by 61% to 14.3 billion rubles. Negative free cash flow over the past 12 months amounted to 33.2 billion rubles.
The company has been under Western sanctions since 2022. In 2025, it cut diamond production by 10% to 29.8 million carats, and this year it forecasts a further decline of 13–16%, to 25–26 million carats.
The company is cutting costs
Earlier, Alrosa had already cut the salaries of some employees by 10%, transferred some staff to part-time work, and suspended operations at certain deposits.
In June, the company also decided to mothball mining operations at the Severalmaz enterprise, which accounts for about 10% of Russia’s diamond production.
Marinichev did not rule out the possibility that the company would have to introduce additional cost-saving measures if the current cuts proved insufficient.