Moscow, April 3, 2019 - Angolan President João Lourenço, during an official visit to Russia on April 3, attended Russian-Angolan business forum and United Selling Organization of ALROSA.

The Russian-Angolan business forum is organized with the support of the Russia-Angola Business Council chaired by ALROSA CEO Sergey Ivanov.

Representatives of the Angolan and Russian businesses attended the forum. The goal of the event is the development of economic relations between the Republic of Angola and the Russian Federation.

A significant part of cooperation between Russia and Angola is diamond mining. Russian ALROSA has been working in Angola since 1993. Currently, together with Angolan partners, ALROSA is implementing a number of projects in the country in the field of exploration and diamond mining in accordance with the best practices of responsible business.

In partnership with the Angolan state-owned company ENDIAMA, ALROSA develops the major Catoca diamond field in Angola. In 2013, with the participation of ALROSA’s specialists in Angola, a new promising Luaxe field was found. This deposit may become one of the largest in the last 60 years of global diamond exploration.

“Given the resource potential of Angola, the technological and financial possibilities that we have, we can confidently say that we have all the necessary prerequisites for enhancing bilateral cooperation in the diamond industry and strengthening the positions of our countries in the global diamond market,” noted Sergey Ivanov during his speech at the forum.

Angolan President also visited the Unified Selling Organization (USO) of ALROSA, where sorting of rough diamonds, their pre-sale preparation and subsequent sale takes place. João Lourenço saw various stages of diamond sorting, as well as the largest and most interesting pieces of the diamond collection. During the visit, ALROSA once again expressed its readiness to share experience in diamond sorting with the Angolan side.