De Beers strikes deal with Soviets

The new Swiss subsidiary of De Beers Consolidated Mines has swung a deal with the Soviet Union which gives De Beers a 5-year contract to sell the latter’s rough diamond production. Soviet production figures are not made public but analysts predict the deal could be worth more than US$5 billion to De Beers.

The parent South African firm set up its Swiss subsidiary, De Beers Centenary, earlier this year to look after its non-South African interests.

De Beers’ marketing arm, the Central Selling Organization, already markets about 80% of the world’s rough diamond output.