Taking the initiative of being the first Russian Federation head to visit South Africa, President Vladimir Putin made a two-day trip to explore investment possibilities South Africa’s mineral and mining and providing nuclear fuel.
He discussed these opportunities with De Beers Chairman Nicky Oppenheimer, at the significant signing ceremony between de Beers and Alrosa.

The ceremony held at Cape Town involved the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two companies, to jointly explore new projects in Russia and Africa.

According to De Beers managing Director Gareth Penny, the exploration activities in Russia were considered to offset its loss in procuring diamonds from Alrosa, post ruling by the European Commission, which has now been ruled out. The agreement will make it easier to procure diamonds in Russia as compared to its previous sole effort.