(diamonds.net) - HRD Antwerp has terminated its collaboration with a local partner in Turkey and Dubai, the Belgian grading organization said. Mehmet Can Özdemir and his company had managed HRD’s laboratory in Turkey since 2014, Ellen Joncheere, HRD’s CEO, told Rapaport News Wednesday. HRD owned 50% of the business in Turkey in a joint venture, while the pair also operated a partnership in Dubai in which HRD held a majority stake. Joncheere and Özdemir both denied a report on a Turkish news website alleging that the Istanbul office had over-graded stones and that this was the reason for closing the office. Instead, the October 11 termination was an effort to “divorce” from a “bad marriage” in which the two parties had different visions on how to develop the business, Joncheere said.
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