Alrosa () is a Russian group of diamond mining companies that specialize in exploration, mining, manufacture, and sale of diamonds. The company leads the world in diamond mining by volume. Mining takes place in Western Yakutia, the Arkhangelsk region, and Africa. Alrosa is Russia's leading diamond mining and distribution company, accounting for 95% of Russian diamond production and 27% of global diamond extraction. The company's headquarters are located in Mirny (Sakha Republic) and Moscow. History The history of Alrosa dates back to 1954, when the first primary deposit of diamonds in the Soviet Union, the kimberlite pipe Zarnitsa, was found. In 1955 the Mir kimberlite pipe and the Udachnaya pipe were discovered. A total of fifteen primary diamond sources were found in 1955. In 1957, a decision was made to begin mining and production operations on alluvial and ore deposits in Yakutia. To manage the facility's construction and subsequent operations, the Yakutalmaz group of companies was established with headquarters in Mirny. The first commercial-grade diamonds were recovered the same year. Two years later, the Soviet Union sold the first shipment of diamonds on the world market. For the most part during the Soviet period, the diamond mining industry developed on the basis of the Mir open-pit mine and adjacent alluvial deposits. In those years its main open-pit mines, processing plants and related energy generating facilities were put into operation. In 1960, the Djomolungma and Chimyan was discovered, and in 1969, the International kimberlite pipe. In 1963, the first sales contracts between the USSR and De Beers group were signed. In 2009 this cooperation was brought to an end as contrary to European Union competition laws in compliance with a decision of the European Commission. Now Alrosa independently distributes its rough diamond production on the world market. Through 1980, the rapid development of primary deposits continued in Aykhal township on the basis of the Jubilee pipe and in Udachny town. Today the Udachny open-pit mine is one of the largest open-pit mines in the world. Because the Soviet Union was very heavily indebted in the late 1980s, Viktor Vladimirivich Gerashchenko and six others travelled among Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and others from September 1990 until the afternoon of 17 January 1991 to obtain very large loans from Persian Gulf states to prevent the collapse of the Soviet banking system. However, Gerashenko could not obtain loans but Yevgeny Primakov and Thomas