The head of Russia's Gokhran handed in his resignation in February but is continuing to lead the the precious metals and gems repository as the government has not yet found a suitable successor, according to Reuters.
Vladimir Rybkin resigned three months ago, but his request remains unanswered, according to three sources familiar with the situation, the newswire reported.
"The government simply can't find a replacement for him - nobody wants to take on such a huge list of responsibilities," one of the sources said. A new head of Gokhran may be found in the early summer, another source said.
The Gokhran had a vital role after the financial crisis of late 2008 and the global slowdown in 2009 which saw a plunge in demand for diamonds. The repository bought $1 billion of diamonds from state diamond monopoly Alrosa.
Those purchases let Alrosa carry on mining and meant the firm did not have to make thousands of workers redundant.
