A subsidiary of Oman's sovereign wealth fund Taadeen has replaced Russian diamond miner ALROSA as a shareholder in Angolan state-owned diamond miner Catoca.
In the updated shareholder structure of the Catoca mining company, Angola's national diamond company Endiama EP, as before, owns 59%, and Taadeen received the remaining 41%, which previously belonged to ALROSA.
Angola asked the Russian company to sell its shares back in early 2024, since, according to statements from Luanda, sanctioned ALROSA as a shareholder in the Angolan diamond miner affects the country's authority in the international diamond market.
According to the Angolan Ministry of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas, the deal was completed on May 26.
Earlier, Endiama said that its cooperation with ALROSA was scaring off some buyers of diamond products, although diamonds from Angola are not subject to Western sanctions. At the same time, in its search for a buyer for its stake in Catoca, the Russian company assumed that the potential buyer would not be associated with De Beers, ALROSA's main competitor.
Hélène Tarin, Editor-in-Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough&Polished
