According to Russian diamond company Alrosa on Wednesday, the company would be offering its shares on the Moscow bourse. The world's top producer of diamonds by carat output said that its owners, the regional and federal goverments of Russia had planned to sell 14% of its stake in the diamond producer. Around 2% of company shares would also be sold by a subsidiary of Alrosa.

Alrosa was set up via a 1992 presidential decree. Alrosa was formed as a successor to several of the Russian government's assets namely diamond mining company NPO Yakutalmaz, Almazjuvelirexport Foreign Trade Association's various divisions, and the State Committee for Precious Metals and Gemstones' diamond sorting and marketing divisions. It currently engages in exploring, mining, manufacturing and selling of diamonds. The the company operates in the region of Sakha Republic/Yakutsk and has its headquarters in Mirny and Moscow.

The share sale was a step towards a long-planned privatization deal. Since mid-2000, the plans for the company to go private had been in the works. The share sale would reportedly put the company's value at USD15 billion.