Subsidiary of Oman’s state fund buys Alrosa shares in Catoca project

Angola’s Minister of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas Diamantino Pedro Azevedo explained that the decision was made due to international sanctions imposed on Russia
NEW YORK, November 28. /TASS/. A subsidiary of Oman’s state fund, Maaden International Investment LLC, has bought shares in the Catoca diamond mining project in Angola from the Russian company Alrosa. This was reported by Bloomberg, citing a statement by Angola’s Minister of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas Diamantino Pedro Azevedo.
As the Angolan minister stated, Alrosa “will no longer participate in this partnership due to international sanctions imposed on Russia,” Bloomberg writes. According to the minister, the restrictions imposed on Russia “have affected trust in Angola in the international diamond market.” The Alrosa company did not comment on this information to TASS.
Earlier, Deputy Finance Minister of the Russian Federation Alexey Moiseyev said that Alrosa would be withdrawing from the Catoca project in Angola; the authorities of that country are rushing the company to exit the joint venture.
The Russian group of diamond mining companies Alrosa has been operating in Angola since 1992. It owns 41% of the shares of the Catoca mining association (another 41% is owned by the Angolan state company Endiama, 18% by the international holding LL International Holding B. V.). Catoca is the largest kimberlite pipe in Angola and the fourth largest diamond deposit in the world in terms of deposits and production (located in the northeast of the country). About 6.8 million carats of diamonds are mined there every year. In December 2023, the G7 countries announced the introduction of restrictions on the import of diamonds mined or processed in Russia from January 1, 2024. The ban on the import of jewelry diamonds from Russia to the EU countries came into force on January 1, 2024, as part of the 12th sanctions package. It does not apply to industrial diamonds and personal jewelry of persons crossing the border. In addition, as the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell announced in early January, the European Union, as part of the ban on the import of diamonds from Russia, blacklisted the company Alrosa and its CEO Pavel Marinychev.