4 March, 2003 members of Il Tumen - State Assembly (Parliament) of Sakha (Yakutia) will consider the draft legislation pertaining to ALROSA activities.

A parliamentary working group has been set up of members of three Il Tumen profile parliamentary Committees and representatives of the Ministry of Property Relations of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) to prepare the draft.

If passed, the law is expected to secure the interests of Sakha in relation to the diamond industry and ALROSA Co. Ltd. The members of Il Tumen may also issue an address to the Russian federal authorities.

As Sakha (Yakutia) has completed the transformation of the system of local government involving the transition from local bodies of state power to local self-government bodies, the Il Tumen Bulletin suggests that the Republican Parliament may raise the issue of ALROSA shares now owned by 8 municipalities of the so called ‘Diamond-bearing Province’ – if these shares should be state or municipal property, and who should control them.