Alrosa Taking EU to Court Over De Beers Deal Termination

Russian diamond miner Alrosa is taking further action against the EU’s Competition Commission's decision to terminate its sales agreement with De Beers. Alrosa has reportedly filed a lawsuit demanding the decision be reversed.

Last month Alrosa said it was appealing the EU decision that adopted a phasing out commitment by De Beers to end the trade between the two companies by 2009. De Beers and Alrosa are the two biggest diamond companies in the world, and the commission wanted to severe the $800 million annual deal between them.

According to the Russian press agencies, the EU Court filing includes a demand that European Commission compensate the company’s court expenditures.