On 7th December a delegation of ALROSA headed by its President Vladimir Kalitin began a working visit to the De Beers operations in South Africa and Namibia.

The trip is a continuation of a series of regular exchanges between the two diamond companies’ senior management and experts with a view to get better knowledge of each other’s mining technologies, diamond sorting operations, nature conservation and environmental protection activities, development of social infrastructure in mining areas and personnel training programs for local population. The paries are also engaged in a dialogue on social responsibility of large companies and nteraction of mining companies with local government.

For the last three years some 200 people have taken part in the exchanges.

The ALROSA delegation is to meet De Beers’ Chairman Nicky Oppenheimer, Managing Director Gary Ralfe and some other senior managers. The programme provides for a tour of the Kimberly and Finsch mines in South Africa and the alluvial and off-shore deposits developed by De Beers in Namibia.

In the course of bi-lateral discussions along with traditional topics the parties will also focus on the discussion the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme (KPSC) introduced to ban the illegal trade in diamonds originating from regional conflict zones. The parties also intend to exchange views on transition from open pit to underground mining, environmental protection and social policy issues in diamond mining areas, the situation in the South African diamond industry in view of the plans to amend the South African mining legislation.

History of Relationship:
The Russian diamond industry and De Beers have an almost 50 year-long history of mutually beneficial co-operation. The first contract to sell Soviet rough diamonds to De Beers was signed in 1959. Since 1960 regular sales of rough began on the basis of systematically renewed trade agreements.

With the establishment of in 1992 the Almazy Rossii-Sakha JSC a new stage in the relationship began. The long-lasting business partnership has served to promote the stable development of global diamond market.

In December 2001 a new Trade Agreement, now under review at the European Comission, was signed.

ALROSA Co. Ltd. Is one of the world’s major diamond producers accounting for some 25% of the global diamond output. Its main shareholders are the Ministry of State Property of the Russian Federation (37%) and the Ministry for Management of State Property of Yakutia.