MOSCOW, May 10 (RIA Novosti) - Alrosa and international diamond giant De Beers have signed a memorandum on diamond supplies in 2006-2008 in Vienna, Russia's top diamond mining company said Thursday.
The memorandum follows a February resolution by the European Commission that officially approved De Beers' decision to phase out purchases of raw diamond purchases from Alrosa by 2009.
An EC representative told journalists earlier that De Beers would buy 500 million euros ($640 million) worth of raw diamonds from Alrosa in 2006, 420 million euros ($538 million) worth in 2007 and 340 million euros ($435 million) worth in 2008.
The European Commission said the decision would contribute to ensuring fair competition on the world diamond market.
Alrosa is one of the world's biggest diamond mining companies, accounting for 25% of overall production in monetary terms. Preliminary data suggest that Alrosa's sales in 2005 stood at $2.856 billion, including cut diamond sales of $144 million. The company's major shareholders are the Federal Agency for the Management of Federal Property (37%), the Yakutia state property management ministry (32%) and staff (23%).
